5 NFL MVP sleepers primed for monster years in the 2021 season

3. Aaron Donald, DT, Los Angeles Rams

This is pretty self-explanatory considering Aaron Donald has won three of the last four Defensive Player of the Year awards. The only thing that makes it hard for Donald is that a defensive player has not won MVP since Lawrence Taylor in 1986. In addition to that, Donald does not play the sexiest position on defense as well.

As a defensive tackle Donald is a menace and very well could be the greatest defensive tackle ever once his career is over. But, if you are not a pass-rushing defensive end/outside linebacker or a cornerback, it is hard to really get the public praise and recognition that is needed to win an MVP award. While Donald is widely respected and viewed as the best amongst his peers, he does not get the sort of media coverage as star quarterbacks.

In the past three seasons, Donald has had 46.5 sacks, 10 forced fumbles, 59 tackles for loss and 170 QB pressures. Those are elite numbers for any defensive player, let alone a defensive tackle who is often being double-teamed or sometimes triple-teamed. Donald has the talent to win NFL MVP if the award was not so quarterback-centric. In fact, if that was the case, he may have already earned one by now.

So, what can Donald do to win the award? Well, for starters he probably has to have a better statistical season than he has ever had which will certainly be difficult. But a ton of this also rests on the Rams’ performance as a team and a defense. If Donald can be the catalyst of a top-three NFL defense that helped the Rams reach the playoffs as a top seed, he certainly could be in contention for the award. If he can do that while also continuing to set career highs statistically, he’ll be hard to ignore.