Aaron Donald

strengths

Made more than 100 plays behind the line of scrimmage and is easily the best disrupter in the draft. It's not just as a pass rusher. He comes up with tackles for losses, as well. He is a quick, explosive player who gets to the quarterback.

compares to

John Randle, ex-Vikings/Seahawks - Like Randle, Donald is a virtual Energizer Bunny, demonstrating rare hustle for an interior lineman. He's explodes off the snap and uses his natural leverage advantage and surprising power to overwhelm blockers and is effective against both the run and pass.

comes off the snap like he's shot out of a cannon. his first step routinely beats opponents for immediate pressures. has an effective arm-over swim move, though he doesn't use this often enough. his stature gives donald the leverage advantage which he uses well to get under the pads of opponents and drive them into the backfield on bull-rushes.

WEAKNESSES

as with most undersized pass-rushers, when donald's burst is contained his short arms limit his effectiveness. donald keeps his legs churning and plays with effort, but he can get caught up in the hand-to-hand combat.

At a shade under 6-foot-1 and 288 pounds, he projects best as a pass-rush specialist three-technique defensive tackle in the 4-3 alignment. Donald could emerge as a 8-10 sack threat in the NFL but he'll almost certainly be doing so as a rotational player.

Described as "one of the most dominating defensive linemen in WPIAL Class AAAA in recent years" while at Penn Hills

selected first team All-State Class AAAA by the Pennsylvania Sports Writers each of his final two seasons

Pennsylvania Football News All-Class AAAA

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette WPIAL Class AAAA Player of the Year

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Fabulous 22"

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review "Terrific 25"

All-Big East Conference

compiled 63 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and 11 sacks as a senior

also started at offensive guard

a three-year starter overall at Penn Hills

the Indians advanced to the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs each of Donald's three years as a starter

selected to play in the prestigious Big 33 Football Classic

rated one of the country's top 25 defensive tackles by Scout

rated Pennsylvania's No. 8 overall prospect by Scout and No. 14 by Rivals and SuperPrep

SuperPrep All-Northeast Team

PrepStar All-East Region

played under Coach Ron Graham.

Aaron Charles Donald, born 5/23/91, is the son of Anita Goggins and Archie Donald

has one brother and one sister

brother Archie played linebacker at Toledo

enrolled in the School of Arts and Sciences.