Peter King would choose Rams' Aaron Donald over Lawrence Taylor

While many view Los Angeles Rams superstar defensive tackle Aaron Donald as the best overall player on that side of the football today, plenty of those same individuals would quickly say that New York Giants legend Lawrence Taylor remains the greatest defensive player in NFL history. Both have three Defensive Player of the Year Awards on their career résumés, and Taylor earned Most Valuable Player honors in 1986. 

For his latest edition of his "Football Morning in America" column, NBC Sports' Peter King explained ahead of the upcoming "Monday Night Football" matchup between the Rams and San Francisco 49ers why he'd "choose" Donald over Taylor in a potential argument about G.O.A.T. statuses. 

"Donald, entering the Rams game at San Francisco tonight, is averaging .77 sacks per game in his 130-game career, rushing mostly from the inside; Taylor averaged .77 sacks per game in his 184-game career, rushing largely from the outside," King wrote of the 31-year-old. King also pointed out that Donald tallied a pair of fourth-quarter sacks in this past February's Super Bowl LVI win over the Cincinnati Bengals. 

"Taylor had no sacks in either of the Giants’ Super Bowl wins he played in. That matters, but it’s not huge," King added. 

"I think I’ve opened some doors about the position since I came into this league," Donald told King about his achievements as an inside force. "When I was drafted, I wasn’t that 6-4, 300-pound interior lineman everyone was looking for. I was 6-1, 280 … but really I played at 265. I heard it all: You ain’t big enough. You can’t be an interior defensive lineman in this league at 265.

"I think what people forget is, my sophomore year at Pitt, I played the edge. I played 5-technique. (A 5-technique defensive end plays just outside the shoulder of the tackle and has to be powerful against the run as well as a good rusher.) And I played pretty well. So if I had to do it now, I think I could do it. I don’t know how successful I’d be, but I know I could it." 

Back in June, Donald agreed to a reworked contract to play at least two more seasons with the Rams before he could consider retiring, for good, after the 2023 campaign. Theoretically, that should give him plenty of time to further build his case as the G.O.A.T. defensive player over Taylor and other challengers for the figurative throne.