Aaron Donald was selected 13th overall by the St.Louis Rams in the 2014 NFL draft. Donald went on to have an incredible career due to his incredible size, skill and speed. Though many fans do not know how fast Aaron Donald ran the forty-yard dash.
Aaron Donald ran an official forty-yard dash of 4.68 seconds at the 2014 NFL combine. Keep in mind Donald ran this speed at six feet and one-inch tall while weighing two hundred eighty-five pounds.
This is an incredibly fast 40 time when compared to other players of this size. Donald’s athleticism and frame were a large reason this player was so highly rated coming out of college.
It is also important to remember that Aaron Donald’s 40 time of 4.68 was an official measurement. Nowadays many prospects end up running their forty-yard dashes with trainers or at their pro days.
These are unofficial measurements because they are timed using handheld stopwatches. At the NFL combine laser timing is used creating a much more accurate measurement. This is why you will often hear about players running incredibly fast 40 times while at a pro day.
How Much Can Aaron Donald Bench Press?
At the 2014 NFL combine Aaron Donald was able to bench press two hundred and twenty-five pounds for thirty-five reps. This was the second-best for any defensive lineman at the draft.
This is quite impressive for Aaron Donald as he may seem huge compared to the average person he is actually smaller than your typical defensive tackle.
This means Aaron Donald benched more repetitions of the two hundred and twenty-five pounds than other defensive tackles that were larger than him.
How Big Are Aaron Donald’s Hands?
Coming into the NFL in 2014 Aaron Donald had all his measurements taken at the NFL combine.
Aaron Donald’s hands were measured at 9 and 7/8 inches. This is not a very important factor for defensive tackles but goes to show how large Aaron Donald is.
For reference, Tom Brady’s hands measure 9 and 1/2 inches which is fairly average for a quarterback. While some other quarterbacks were heavily criticized when entering the draft due to hand size of nine inches like Joe Burrow.
Aaron Donald Pre-Draft Criticisms
Though Aaron Donald has turned into one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history there were a few knocks on him before he entered the league.
Undersized
The biggest knock against Donald entering the draft was his size. Despite being incredibly strong and athletic Donald simply did not fit the typical build for a defensive tackle.
His lack of weight had teams concerned that he would not be able to hold his ground on the defensive line.
This of course turned out to be completely wrong as Aaron Donald is the most double-teamed player in the NFL yet still manages to make plays on a consistent basis.
Short Arms
Another criticism of Donald was that his arms were too short to effectively pass rush. Scouts believed that if Donald wasn’t able to beat the blocker with his speed he would get caught in a hand fight and most likely lose.
This also turned out to be untrue as Donald uses his strength to continually push offensive lineman back making his arm length unimportant.
