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If there’s one player on the Rams who’s excited about the addition of edge rusher Von Miller, it’s defensive tackle Aaron Donald.
The reigning defensive player of the year, Donald has commanded as much attention as ever in 2021, but he’s still made plays. In eight games, Donald has 5.0 sacks, six tackles for loss, 12 quarterback hits, three passes defensed, and a forced fumble.
Donald is excited about the possibilities with Miller in the fold, telling reporters on Thursday that he hasn’t stopped smiling since the trade went down. He also noted he probably hadn’t been this happy since his last child was born.
“It’s going to be hard for teams to try to focus on [blocking] one person because you’ve got so many good players,” Donald said, via Kevin Modesti of the Southern California News Group. “So it should be fun. We’ve still got to go out there and compete and make it happen, but we’ve got a great opportunity to do some great things.”
Edge rusher Leonard Floyd currently leads the Rams with 6.5 sacks. He also stands to benefit from Miller’s addition if defenses choose to focus on Miller and Donald.
The Rams currently rank 10th in points allowed but 21st in yards allowed. The club is also 21st in third-down defense, allowing a conversion rate of 42 percent. Miller’s skillset should help improve all of those numbers.
Miller may make his L.A. debut in a few days on Sunday Night Football against the Titans.
