30 NFL records that could be broken this season

2. Aaron Donald, Most Defensive Player of the Year Awards

This one might come as a surprise, but Aaron Donald can win the Defensive Player of the Year award in any season. It might impact some of the others on this list (Nick Bosa and Micah Parsons mainly), but if Donald is able to lead the league in sacks again, he could very well win this award. That would give him four Defensive Player of the Year awards, more than any player in NFL history.

The history of this award goes all the way back to 1971, when defensive tackle Alan Page won the award with the Minnesota Vikings. Since then, only three players have won the award three times; Donald, J.J. Watt, and Lawrence Taylor. Even if Watt returns, he’s not going to win this award. He’s diminished just enough to keep out of this conversation. However, Donald is still at the top of his game.

Last season, Donald had five sacks over 11 games. It was by far his worst season as a professional. Donald decided to come back this season despite all the retirement rumors last season. He isn’t doing that to cash a paycheck. He doesn’t want to go out on the bottom, so he’s going to fight like hell to be the best defensive player in the league.

The Los Angeles Rams are a strange team that most have little expectations for. They fell off a cliff after winning a Super Bowl, but they could easily be a surprise bounce back this season. Donald could lift the defense. If he does and the Rams somehow win that division on his back, expect more hardware coming to the Donald household.