NFC West player of the year awarded to Aaron Donald

ESPN has voted to name Aaron Donald the NFC West player of the year.

We all thought the Rams might do decent after their 3-1 start, right?

Wrong.

Even though the team flaked, they’ve been getting tremendous play from defensive force Aaron Donald.

Over the course of 2017, Aaron Donald sacked the opposing quarterback eight times. Only one player has more than him in that category.

Donald even had 17 tackles that resulted in a loss of yardage.

Also, he was first in the NFL with 31 hits on the quarterback.

Donald’s play will be crucial next season under the new head coaches in Los Angeles. It wasn’t only Jeff Fisher that won’t return, as the team underwent some big overhauls on the sidelines.

Above all, the Rams will be under direction of Sean McVay. When McVay was hired by the Rams as Jeff Fisher’s successor, they made NFL history.

The new coach of the Rams is the youngest head coach in league history.

How both sides of the ball will change under their new head coach is to be determined. McVay has the chance to bring a lot of energy to a team that desperately needs it.

Under Fisher, you got the sense that he both mismanaged and miscalculated the kind of talent he had on the roster. Instead of repeating those mistakes, the hope is that McVay respects the areas where he has the most talent.

Donald comes in as clearly the Rams’ best player, especially on a defense that’ll be likely losing some stars to free agency.

Los Angeles must respect Donald’s consistency, even if the team continues to struggle. Losing him to free agency in a few seasons would set the team back dramatically.

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After finally divorcing Jeff Fisher, let’s hope they don’t go back down that road.