What happens if you pair two defensive linemen with five Defensive Player of the Year awards between them, who have spent their entire careers being double- and triple-teamed? Who have been so dominant that they have never been afforded one-on-one opportunities to beat an offensive lineman and pursue a quarterback unabated?
It was the question that lured Aaron Donald out of retirement.
For two years, he insisted he was whole and complete, feeling no draw back to the game after 10 years of domination and a Super Bowl title with his lone franchise. Then that franchise traded for one of the few defensive linemen who could match Donald’s résumé this century in edge rusher Myles Garrett.
And the wheels began to turn: What if there was someone else on the line who could draw some of that attention away from me?
On Sunday, for the first time, we will begin to see the answer to that question. Garrett is back after missing seven games due to arthroscopic knee surgery, and he and Donald and their 236.5 career sacks will line up together as the Rams (4-4) face the Washington Commanders (2-4-1).
“It’s good to have the pieces back to the puzzle,” Donald said.
It won’t be the full defense that the Rams envisioned when they put this team together in the offseason. Defensive tackle Poona Ford and cornerback Jaylen Watson are out for the year, tackle Kobie Turner is nursing a groin strain and it remains to be seen if corner Trent McDuffie can play through a back injury.
But with Donald in the middle, Garrett on one side of the line and outside linebacker Byron Young on the other, the possibilities do seem endless for the Rams.
“I think the offense are really going to have to pick their poison,” Garrett said with a smirk. “‘Who’s going to be freed up this play?’ I think either of us are pretty good at winning one-on-ones, so we’ll have some fun.”
There might be some easing into things. The Rams might have to limit Garrett’s snaps in his first week back from injured reserve. Because his knee injury limited him so much during training camp, he is still learning his new teammates and how to rush off of them.
That’s particularly true with Donald, who did not come out of retirement until the week before the regular season. The pair have practiced together only a handful of times.
“You’d obviously like to bank a lot of those reps throughout training camp, but you’re always going to deal with the hand that you’re given,” Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula said. “Try to mesh his game with our defense together and try to find the best version for his game and for the defense of the Rams.”
And the Commanders present a unique challenge. Quarterback Jayden Daniels is among the most elusive in the NFL, capable of escaping the pocket to either take off for rushing yards or extend plays and allow receivers to get open.
His crop of receivers is banged up, but so are the Rams’ cornerbacks. Any stolen seconds by the former Cajon High star will only put more pressure on Emmanuel Forbes and Josh Wallace.
“If you’re rushing four, you’re short two escape lanes you have to make sure that you’re great overlap, rushing four-as-one,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said. “You can’t just sit there and watch. He’ll pick you apart because he does such a great job. Then when we are bringing more than that, if we do that, doing a great job, not giving any sort of vertical seams for him to be able to escape.”
It was a sober assessment by McVay when asked about his anticipation about seeing Garrett and Donald together for the first time, but even he had to admit his team is putting his offensive counterparts on other teams in a bind.
“It’s challenging because in a lot of instances, you’re looking to try to be able to move the hard down,” he explained. “There are not a lot of ways you can move the hard down if these guys are playing the way that I know that they’re capable of. It presents real challenges.”
This is the start of what the Rams dreamed of that June day when they traded for Garrett and piqued Donald’s interest. What drew Donald back out of retirement, to hunt for the glory of a second championship and for a singular opportunity for a player of his reputation.
Now let’s see how it looks in reality.
“I’m going to go out there and just play,” Donald said. “We’re all going to just play. If Myles is 100% ready to go and he plays this week, that’s going to be amazing for us, great.”
RAMS (4-4) at WASHINGTON COMMANDERS (2-4-1)
When: 10 a.m. PT Sunday
Where: Northwest Stadium, Landover, Md.
TV/Radio: FOX (Ch. 11)/710 AM; 93.1 FM; 1330 AM (Spanish); Sirius 268, 195