From 99-0, TeamFB7 is looking back on the greatest players in NFL history to don each jersey number. No ties allowed, tough decisions will be made — starting right away at No. 99.
The task doesn’t get much tougher than right off the bat here at No. 99 — a number associated with a few of the most dominant defensive linemen and edge rushers in NFL history.
Like Hall-of-Famer Jason Taylor, who racked up 139.5 sacks, 48 forced fumbles and 9 defensive touchdowns over an illustrious 15-year career primarily with the Miami Dolphins. Six Pro Bowl selections, three first-team and one second-team All-Pro nods, an NFL Defensive Player of the Year award, a runner-up in the voting another year and that Gold Jacket and spot in Canton.
An incredible resume — but not good enough for the top spot here.
Ditto for fellow Hall-of-Famer Warren Sapp, one of the most impactful defensive tackles in NFL history.
Sapp was a wrecking ball for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for nine seasons and the then-Oakland Raiders for another four, racking up 96.5 sacks as an interior defensive lineman. This fearsome 99 made seven Pro Bowls, earned four first-team and two second-team All-Pro honors, won NFL Defensive Player of the Year, finished third in the voting another season and contributed to a Super Bowl championship for Tampa Bay.
Legendary, indeed — but still not enough to stake claim as the greatest 99 in league history.
In fact, neither of those all-time greats even made it to the final deliberation and debate here.
Only three players have ever won three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards — and two of them did so with the No. 99 on their backs.
J.J. Watt and Aaron Donald.
An almost impossible choice to decide between them — almost, that is.
Few players have ever had a greater career peak than Watt did during his run of devastating dominance with the Houston Texans.
Over a four-year apex from 2012, his second season in the league, through 2015, Watt reeled in three Defensive Player of the Year awards, four first-team All-Pro honors, finished second in overall MVP voting in 2014 (which is almost impossible for a defensive player) while also catching 3 TDs that year and totaled 69 sacks, 119 tackles for loss, 15 forced fumbles and 2 defensive touchdowns. In four years …
It can’t be done any better than that — unless that run of elite play never stops for the duration of a career.
That’s what Donald did and why takes the top spot.
Watt battled significant injuries and had only two other seasons with double-digit sacks, including another first-team All-Pro selection in 2018 when he had 16 sacks and a league-high 7 forced fumbles, and then his final season with the Arizona Cardinals in 2022 when he tallied 12.5 sacks.
Unfortunately, Watt played eight games or fewer in four of his final seven seasons and retired at 33 years old. He finished with 114.5 sacks and 195 tackles for loss in 12 seasons. He had 6 sacks in 9 career playoff games, but his teams never got past the divisional round.
Watt will be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer when he’s eligible in 2028, but he’s a narrow second on the list of greatest 99s in NFL history.
The top spot is deservedly Donald’s.
The legendary Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle only played 10 seasons, but he maximized them and was elite from start to finish.
Donald was named first-team All-Pro eight times in those 10 years with the only exceptions coming during his debut season in which he nonetheless won Defensive Rookie of the Year and made the Pro Bowl and his penultimate season in 2022 in which he was limited to 11 games but still made the Pro Bowl (doing so every season of his career).
As noted, Donald won NFL Defensive Player of the Year three times, tying Watt and Lawrence Taylor for the record, but equally impressive is that he finished top 5 in the voting for seven straight years.
He led the NFL in 2018 with 20.5 sacks — a single-season record for a defensive tackle — and finished with 111 sacks and 176 tackles for loss in 10 seasons.
Donald helped the Rams win Super Bowl LVI.
He retired after the 2023 season, but he hasn’t officially closed the door of rejoining a loaded 2026 Rams team after the acquisition of reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett this month.
Regardless, Donald’s stature is cemented as the greatest No. 99 in NFL history.
