Lawrence Taylor
Aaron Donald
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Lawrence Taylor leads 1 of 3 categories. Our all-time ranking places Lawrence Taylor at #4 and Aaron Donald at #11.
Head-to-head FAQ
Who leads more shared metrics?
How do the published ranks compare?
Are these live stats?
The case for Lawrence Taylor
Lawrence Taylor is the defensive player most often credited with changing the game itself. As an outside linebacker for the New York Giants, his explosive edge rushing forced offenses to redesign protections and elevated the left tackle into a premium position charged with blocking his blind-side attacks. He recorded 132.5 official sacks, though the statistic was not tracked for his 1981 rookie year, and won three Defensive Player of the Year awards. In 1986 he became one of only two defensive players ever named NFL MVP, a season in which he tallied 20.5 sacks and dragged the Giants to a title. He won two Super Bowls and made ten Pro Bowls. Ferocious, instinctive, and relentless, he set the template for the modern pass-rushing edge defender.
The case for Aaron Donald
The defining interior defender of the modern era, Aaron Donald did from defensive tackle what pass rushers usually do from the edge. Undersized for the position at around 6-foot-1, he used explosive quickness and elite hand technique to collapse pockets from the inside, finishing with 111 career sacks, an extraordinary total for an interior lineman. He was named Defensive Player of the Year three times, earned first-team All-Pro honors eight times, and made the Pro Bowl in all ten of his seasons before retiring in 2024. Donald capped his career by helping the Los Angeles Rams win Super Bowl LVI, where his late pressure sealed the title. Offenses routinely double-teamed him and still failed to contain him, the surest sign of a truly dominant defender.