Aaron Donald had a remarkable career at the University of Pittsburgh, which helped land him in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft. In his last season alone, he had 59 tackles, 28.5 tackles for a loss and 11 sacks, forcing four fumbles. Across his four seasons, he had 66 tackles for a loss and 29.5 sacks.
His nephew Elliott Donald followed in his footsteps and is currently enrolled at Pitt, playing defensive line for the Panthers. He was a redshirt freshman last year and didn’t play much, but the future looks bright for the 6-foot-2, 270-pound defensive lineman.
Recently, both Aaron and Elliott helped out at the 2Tenths camp for high school prospects and the Rams defensive tackle had some high praise for his nephew.
“He’s a strong young man. He’s got a work ethic, that’s what it’s about,” Aaron said. “I feel like everything starts with work ethic, wanting to be great. When you want to be great and you really put the time in and the work in to do them things and accomplish them things, hard work pays off. He continues to work hard, continue to put in the body of work and continue to learn – from his coaches, from his teammates, from just whatever he’s learning from, even if he’s gonna ask me questions, I’m here. But he’s just got to continue to grow and if he continues to do that, the sky’s the limit for him.”
As a recruit, Rams star Aaron Donald @AaronDonald97 was a three-star who slid under the radar.
Now he's helping current high school prospects get noticed. @pantherlair caught up with him and his nephew Elliot @2tenths camp to talk about it 👇https://t.co/0B8sTxweTB pic.twitter.com/KZIVsM0tJw
— Rivals (@Rivals) July 11, 2022
Elliott only played one game as a redshirt freshman last season, preserving his redshirt year. As you can see in the interview, he looks big standing next to Aaron, boasting a similar frame to his uncle. Obviously, he’s not as powerful or ripped as Aaron is, but few players in the NFL are.
Having Aaron in his corner is a huge benefit, and it should only help Elliott reach his potential in the next few years.
