Pittsburgh defensive tackle Aaron Donald was selected with the No. 13 pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, becoming the third ACC player to get picked on Thursday night.
Going No. 13 caps a year of meteoric rise for Donald. The defensive tackle was far from a household name when he entered the ACC this season. But he quickly racked up astonishing stats, finishing the 2013 season with 28.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. He won just about every defensive award he could have, both in the ACC and on a national level.
Donald joins a Rams defensive line that will quite easily be the best in the NFL. Former Virginia defensive end Chris Long and former North Carolina defensive end Robert Quinn are the bookends of the unit. Kendall Langford and Michael Brockers hold down the defensive tackle spots. Donald will likely fight with Brockers for the first spot on the depth chart, but it is rare for interior defensive linemen to make much of an impact in their first season in the pros.