A decade of Aaron Donald’s defensive prowess ended in March 2024, when the defensive tackle decided to hang up his cleats for good. After making 10 Pro Bowls in 10 years and racking up countless other accolades, Donald mentioned how he was “burnt out” and that it was “time to move on” at the age of 32.

It’s hard to replace this future Hall of Famer, but the Rams tried in the 2024 Draft. Now that the regular season is on the way, the Rams are opening their 2024 season against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mind begs to know the answer to the burning question: who will replace Aaron Donald?

Well, earlier in May, Dalton Wasserman of PFF gave his predictions about who will replace the former defensive tackle. “The Rams have decided to try to replace Aaron Donald’s production with an assembly line of defensive linemen. Four of their first six draft picks were defensive linemen, and they come in all shapes and sizes,” Wasserman wrote on PFF.

Edge Rusher Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, safety Kamren Kinchens, and edge rusher Brenna Jackson were among the few defensive players that the Rams hired last offseason to counter Donald’s absence. While the Rams have left no stone unturned to fill the spot on the roster, we can’t expect an Aaron Donald-esque performance out of the jump.

Well, one of the reasons it’s hard to replace the veteran defensive tackle is because he’s played two Super Bowls and won one of them. The Lombardi win came in the game against Cincinnati Bengals where Donald recorded 3 total tackles and 2 sacks! But this wasn’t even his best season. It was 2018 when Donald and his Rams played in a Super Bowl against the Patriots but lost 13-3.

However, the former DT came out with 20.5 sacks and 41 solo tackles that season. Not to mention his 4 forced fumbles and 2 recovered fumbles. “Ten years, 10 Pro Bowls, eight All-Pros, three Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, two NFC Championships, three NFC West championships, went to two Super Bowls, won one, lost one,” Donald said in March after the Los Angeles Rams unexpectedly finished their 2023 season on a 10-7 note.

The time when Aaron Donald decided to say goodbye

The former DT expressed in March that he no longer has the “passion” to play the game. Playing defense is obviously exhausting and the AP DPOY doesn’t want any part of it. Looking forward to “another camp and another 17 [game] season” would have been too taxing on Donald.

“I just don’t got the urge to want to push myself to do that no more. I’m just, I’m burnt out, if anything, the best way to say it is that I’m full, I’m complete. I’m satisfied with what I was able to do in 10 years, and I think it’s time for me to, at 32 years old, retire from football and jump into the next step in my career, my life, and now it’s time to move on,” Donald expressed in March.

In 10 seasons, Donald was able to amass 111 sacks, 337 solo tackles, 24 forced fumbles, and 21 passes defended. His absence is already felt in the Rams as they trail by a significant margin by the end of the first half. What should the Rams do to bolster their defense? Let us know below.