Wyche on how Aaron Donald's comeback adds another layer to Rams-Seahawks rivalry 'GMFB'
NFL Network's Steve Wyche breaks down how the presence of Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald will add another dimension to the divisional rivalry between the Rams and Seattle Seahawks.
Video Transcript
Do I feel like I can play at a high level?
Yes.
Do I feel like I can still be myself?
100%.
If I didn't feel like that, I wouldn't be here.
So, you know, from everything I did, you know, from training with just conditioning to the, you know, the football transition and doing football drills and things in that nature.
I recorded everything, I studied myself to a T. Watched every movement, every cut, every hip flip.
I, in my opinion, I don't see no difference.
If not, it look a little cleaner to me.
You know, two year, two years, body feel a little different, but, it's still gotta go out there, play 11 on 11, get myself going and get myself where I need to be as far as, like, playing football again, so.
The Rams' season was unceremoniously cut short at the end of 2025, and that was at the hands of the future Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks.
This is young Nick Emenari- of the Seahawks defense.
Yeah.
And he's all, "All that for us?"
So we're telling Nick Emenari they're bringing back Aaron Donald so they can make sure that they stop and stomp the Seahawks in their division two, maybe three times if they have to.
The Niners, also prolific, two, maybe three times if they have to.
Steve Wyche back at the table with us here at Good Morning Football.
Steve, a good little, a good little chuckle out of that tweet from Nick Emenari.
What's the backstory here?
Well, I mean, first off, this rivalry is now Ravens-Steelers, and it has happened in a year.
They do not like each other.
I love the fact that it's radioactive.
The sad part is the NFL is making us wait until right around Christmas to see the first meeting between these two teams.
Boo.
So again, it, it is absolutely heated, but now the Aaron Donald hot sauce adds even another layer to it.
'Cause I was up in Seattle when they traded for Myles Garrett.
Mm-hmm.
And Leonard Williams and these guys were like, "So?"
I'm telling you, it's, it's like that.
So it, it's good we've got this type of rivalry.
Yeah.
But again, the NFL said, "You guys can wait until around Christmastime before you see these guys heat up."
All right.
So the Seahawks want us to focus on the Rams and what this does for the Rams.
They said, like, "We got, we're about our own business."
So Steve- Mm-hmm what do you make of this now that it's official?
You were hanging out with us at the end of last week.
We just didn't quite know yet, and now we know, AD back.
So let, let's start with the, the current part.
The fact that the Rams put him on the 53-man roster means he's good to go.
He is ready for week one.
Now, will he play week one in Australia?
Sean McVay and Aaron Donald said they'll take that part day by day.
You just heard Aaron Donald say the football drills.
That's gonna get in pads.
Manti, I know right now they're not gonna get in pads very much before week one.
So we'll see how much he, he, he gets ready for Australia.
If not, they play Monday night at SoFi against the Giants.
Mm-hmm.
So remember last week I said 70% he plays in Australia?
Yep, yep.
Sliding scale going up.
I think he'll be ready to play over.
It's, it's against the 49ers.
But let's, let's take this now into how he's gonna be used.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
So Aaron Donald is gonna be next to Myles Garrett.
When Aaron Donald talked about his timeline of when he started to work out about this, it was right before the Rams made the trade for Myles Garrett.
If you follow the timeline, Aaron Donald told us on Sunday.
So he probably had a little idea this was gonna happen.
So now Myles Garrett, Aaron Donald, Poona Ford, Kobe Turner- Brayden Fiske, and Byron Young.
Again, this was already a great defensive line before Aaron Donald came in, and the year that they're going back to the Deacon Jones, Fearsome Foursome throwbacks- Wow they get Aaron Donald back in this mix.
So now you've got this great front.
You add Trent McDuffie and Jalen Watson at corner.
You've got a hybrid safety in Quinton Lake, who does to some of the stuff that Nick Emenari does for the Seahawks.
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
And arguably the best safety tandem with Cam Kinson and Cam Carroll.
Mm-hmm.
We're gonna be talking a lot about this Rams defense, especially when Matthew Stafford gets him a lead and they can get after the quarterbacks.
So this is really good.
It's a little bit reflective of when they played in the Super Bowl at SoFi in 2021, and Aaron Donald did bring up the fact that the Super Bowl this year is in SoFi.
Remember, they went out and they got Von Miller.
They had Jalen Ramsey.
They added pieces somewhat to what they did like this.
These guys are a little bit more in their prime, the pieces that they added.
But again, the assemblage of the roster with this whole coaching staff is somewhat similar.
You can kinda see how the wheels turn for Aaron Donald and his decision to come back.
