Los Angeles Rams

Dirk Koetter says Aaron Donald is on the same level as J.J. Watt

Published Dec. 16, 2015 11:53 p.m. ET

foxsports

With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers set to take on the St. Louis Rams on Thursday Night Football, it was obvious that the name Aaron Donald would pop up at some point. Donald has had a stellar season, and Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter has taken notice. Not only that, but he's taken it one step further, even saying placing Donald on the same level as the incredible J.J. Watt.

Koetter opened up about Donald ahead of the Thurday night matchup, calling the star defensive tackle "extremely disruptive."

Via Chris Wesseling of NFL.com:

"Extremely. Extremely (disruptive)," Koetter said Tuesday. "Our scouting department scouts teams a couple of weeks in advance, and they told me that he was on the same level as J.J. Watt. And I thought to myself, 'Wow! That's hard to believe.'

"When it came my time to watch the tape, I said, 'Oh, wow! He's on the same level as J.J. Watt!' I mean, this guy's having a fantastic year, definitely a game-wrecker for this game."

Want to talk about high praise? It doesn't get much better than that. Koetter knows what his offense will be up against with Donald, but will they be able to find a way to keep him from wreaking havoc?