Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald was named an AP First-Team All-Pro following yet another spectacular 2019 NFL season.
Donald finds himself in familiar territory after earning the honor for the fifth consecutive year and he still has yet to miss a Pro Bowl in his six-year career thus far. He finished the 2019 campaign with 48 tackles, 12.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles to fall just one vote shy from being a unanimous decision.
The 28-year-old has set the bar quite high as the reigning two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year while coming off a season in which he nearly broke the single-season sack record. While his dip in production was hardly surprising, there is no question that he remains as arguably the best player at his position and continues to solidify his status as one of the all-time greats.
Donald will certainly have his work cut out trying to three-peat as the DPOY with other players such as New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore and Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt coming off stellar outings of their own. Regardless, he can take solace in the fact that he is the only player in NFL history that has been named a First-Team All-Pro five times in his first six seasons.
Donald is also the only player on the Rams to make an All-Pro team this season, however, there was another that was on the roster that managed to enjoy quite a resurgence following his departure in Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters. Although Peters was surprised to find himself as a casualty in the teams’ efforts to bring in cornerback Jalen Ramsey, it is safe to say that the move to Baltimore has worked out quite well for him.
Peters made a seamless transition into Baltimore’s defense and played well enough to earn first-team honors for the second time in his career. More importantly, he is entering the playoffs as the No. 1 seed as an integral part of a Ravens team that finished with an NFL-best 14-2 record.
Even if the Rams may have parted ways with one All-Pro, they are hoping that they got another in return with Ramsey. At the end of the day, they can take solace in the fact that Donald is still in his prime and has not shown any signs from slowing down in the near future.
Rounding out the First Team was Lamar Jackson, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Michael Thomas, DeAndre Hopkins, Ronnie Stanley, Ryan Ramczyk, Quenton Nelson, Zack Martin, Jason Kelce, Chandler Jones, T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward, Bobby Wagner, Demario Davis, Eric Kendricks, Stephon Gilmore, Tre’Davious White, Jamal Adams, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Tyrann Mathieu, Marlon Humphrey, Justin Tucker, Brett Kern, Cordarrelle Patterson, Deonte Harris, and Matthew Slater.
