Category profile
- Dominance
- 90
- Peak
- 94
- Longevity
- 82
- Honours
- 88
- Statistics
- 92
Career timeline · Touchdowns per season
| Season | Touchdowns per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 9 | |
| 2015 | 11 | |
| 2016 | 8 | |
| 2017 | 11 | |
| 2018 | 20.5 | |
| 2019 | 12.5 | |
| 2020 | 13.5 | |
| 2021 | 12.5 | |
| 2022 | 5 | |
| 2023 | 8 |
Data sources
- NFL
- Pro Football Reference
- Olympics.com
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Aaron Donald ranks #9 in American Football
Aaron Donald ranks 9th among American Football athletes on GOAT Rank and 371st of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 89.1 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 90, Peak 94, Longevity 82, Honours 88, Statistics 92. Those categories are normalised against the full American Football reference universe of 378 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 2014–2023 with 10 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 2018, which sets the Peak component at 94. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 94 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes defensive player of the year 3, super bowl titles 1, pro bowls 10, career sacks 111.
Immediately ahead sits Bruce Smith on 87.5, a gap of -1.6 points. Directly behind is Adam Vinatieri on 85.9. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Aaron Donald GOAT Score explained
- Dominance90/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Donald stood above the field while competing. Scored 90/100 against the full American Football cohort.
- Peak94/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 2018. Scored 94/100.
- Longevity82/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 9 years of competition and 10 recorded seasons. Scored 82/100.
- Honours88/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 88/100.
- Statistics92/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 92/100.
Top Donald comparisons
Aaron Donald — frequently asked
- Is Aaron Donald the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Aaron Donald ranks 9th in American Football with a GOAT Score of 89.1, behind Tom Brady on 97.2.
- What is Aaron Donald's GOAT Score?
- 89.1 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 90 (25%), Peak 94 (20%), Longevity 82 (20%), Honours 88 (20%), Statistics 92 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Aaron Donald rank all time?
- 371st of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 9th within American Football.
- Aaron Donald vs Bruce Smith: who ranks higher?
- Aaron Donald, on 89.1 against Bruce Smith's 87.5 — a margin of 1.6 points.