'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Aaron Donald gave perhaps the biggest shout-out one can give to T.J. Watt after saying the Steelers' player is the next best guy when it comes to defense. Joining Chris Long on the Green Light podcast, the newly-retired future Hall-of-Famer said that he hated questions about who is going to be the next Aaron Donald. But his host did not give up and insisted on that question.
To that, the former Los Angeles Rams star said:
"If you want to say the next guy, I will say it's right now I think it's T.J. Watt. I think if you're talking about a guy that's consistently been doing it year in and year out, that's gonna get you 15 sacks or 13 sacks, 22 sacks consistently he's the guy. he's that guy to me."
Highlighting the Steelers player's consistency, he added that he also likes some other players on the defensive side of the ball. Aaron Donald name-checked Micah Parsons and Myles Garrett as a couple of good defensive players. But he kept coming back to the Pittsburgh star because of his consistency. He added:
"You got Micah Parsons coming up. You got Myles Garrett. You got a bunch of good players, but in my opinion from like the first time I've seen T.J. Watt into the league to last year, he's consistently been dominating in this league. So just a lot of respect for him and I think he's that guy."
Aaron Donald remembers J.J. Watt when praising brother T.J. Watt
But even when talking about T.J. Watt, Aaron Donald could not help but talk of older brother J.J. Watt. Along with Lawrence Taylor, the two retired defensive giants are the only players to ever win the Defensive Player of the Year Award three times. He said:
"Those two brothers are like top-tier guys, like that's special. That's different."
J.J. Watt won it in 2012, 2014 and 2015. Aaron Donald dominated with victories in 2017, 2018 and 2020. Over the last decade, these two players have utterly dominated.
Now with both having left the game and waiting for their enshrinement in Canton, T.J. Watt has the opportunity to possibly catch or even surpass them. He has won the award once in 2021 and was royally miffed having missed out to Myles Garrett last season.
If he keeps doing what he is doing, there is a fair chance that in a few years, we might be asking the same question to him that Chris Long asked Chris Long now.
