‘His own fresh breed’: How good is Aidan Hutchinson? NFL

Eric Woodyard, ESPNSep 30, 2024, 06:00 AM ET

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DETROIT — Aidan Hutchinson was all business as he exited State Farm Stadium in Arizona.

His Detroit Lions had just beaten the Arizona Cardinals 20-13 in a game in which the defensive end used a ferocious chop-and-spin move to sack Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray with 5:07 left in the fourth quarter.

It was his fifth straight game with a sack dating to last season. It’s the longest such streak in franchise history.

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But the performance was a means to an end for the former No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 draft. Hutchinson said his goal for 2024 is to break the NFL’s single-season sack record of 22.5 held by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt, and end his career as one of the league’s all-time great defenders.

“Even if I had no sacks right now, I will always have the mentality that I can hit that record,” he told ESPN after the game. “I think I just have a lot of belief in myself. So, despite what the outcome is, I always think that record’s there.”

Hutchinson, 24, enters Monday’s matchup with the Seattle Seahawks (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN) as one of the top young pass rushers in the league. He was named to his first Pro Bowl in 2023 after recording 11.5 sacks and finished as the first player in NFL history to have 15 sacks (Hutchinson had 21) and four interceptions over his first two seasons as a pro.

He entered Week 4 leading the league in sacks (6.5), pass-rush wins (21), pass-rush incompletions created (8) and second in pass rush win rate (33.3%) en route to what many say will be a breakout season for the former Michigan All-American.

“You can just see [that] he is growing mentally and physically,” Lions QB Jared Goff said. “He is coming into his own as a player and I am glad he is on our side.”

Hutchinson’s impressive start has garnered plenty of attention. We asked current and former NFL players, his former Michigan teammates, coaches who have worked with him — and even a Grammy-nominated rapper — about his game, his ceiling and areas for improvement as his career progresses.

Here is what they told ESPN.

Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson is taking his game to a new level in his third NFL season. Nic Antaya/Getty Images

What makes Hutchinson so good?

Big Sean, Detroit rapper: Aidan Hutchinson is a phenom, that’s why, when I performed at the NFL draft, I wore his jersey specifically. He’s a phenom.

Penei Sewell, Lions’ All-Pro offensive tackle: His overall ability and how athletic he is. And agility for his size, too. And then when you go to a mindset aspect, he wants to be great. He wants to be the best.

Richard Dent, Hall of Fame defensive end and Super Bowl XX MVP: He’s one of the guys that knows where he’s trying to get his pad level and where he’s trying to use his right forearm and elbow with how he leans it in. That’s part of using your leverage.

Simeon Rice, three-time Pro Bowler: He’s just tenacious from a skill standpoint. He has a belief in himself. He has a want to be great. You can look at that. He wants to make every play. He wants to make every sack. He wants to be special. And now he’s got the skill set. What I see that he brings is counters. Not only can [he] get off the ball, but he’s got countermoves and that’s rare because I looked at him this week and I was like, “he knows what he’s doing.” … You’ve got [Nick] Bosa, he’s one way. He gets there, but he’s [got] one way. This kid has different little countermoves that work for him.

Kevin Dotson, Los Angeles Rams offensive guard: He has a high motor and so it’s something that you can’t give up on the play. … Even if you block him once, twice in a play, if you’re not blocking the whole time while the quarterback has the ball, he can make something happen.

Khalil Mack, Los Angeles Chargers linebacker: That guy, he’s flying around man, he be flying around, spinning, long arm, stabbing. He’s kind of deep in his bag like Maxx Crosby right now in terms of moves. He’s on the right side, the left side mixing it up. So, like from a purely pass-rushing standpoint, he’s got a deep toolbox. He’s balling right now. Balling.

Eddy McGilvra, private NFL coach/defensive line expert: Obviously, Aidan has physical tools that you can’t teach. The speed, size, frame and sudden switch are just different. But I believe why he’s so good and only getting better is because he’s confident. His confidence is growing and he’s starting to get deeper into his bag of moves. When I got with Aidan for his draft process he wouldn’t even try and spin a certain direction because he only had one spin side. Now look at him. He’s a mad man.

Braxton Jones, Chicago Bears left tackle: He doesn’t stop. A lot of guys will get blocked for the first two seconds and then they kind of throttle it down. Aidan is always working in the pocket. Even this year — I’ve watched some of their games — he’s getting his sacks off of his first move. He’s obviously getting into a bigger rush package for himself, and he has a lot of moves now going into his third year. I think that’s a big thing. With that, having a big rush package, a good spin move and then never stopping in the pocket is a big reason why he has the production he does. … He has the motor that some cats don’t. That’s where he exposes some tackles.

Roman Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers WR and former Michigan teammate: [He’s] someone that’s detail-oriented, lives in the weight room and [is] just built. A freak. Just a natural born leader as well with great energy in the locker room. I feel like the only way I can describe him is someone that only really cares about football and getting better at football.

David Lawrence, Hutchinson’s private strength coach: The thing with him is his daily habits. A lot of guys are gifted, but he really works at the little things in the offseason. He’s meticulous with his sleep, stretching, nutrition. … It’s a full-time job, 24/7, 365 for him. He’s all in. He’s completely dialed in. I’ve worked with over 100 professional and Olympic athletes and he’s definitely in the top-10 in terms of focus and completely all-in on being as good as he can be.

Aidan Hutchinson riddled the Buccaneers with 4.5 sacks in Week 2. Mike Mulholland/Getty Images

How good can he be, and where is his ceiling in the NFL?

Mack: He’s definitely one of those guys that can impact the game and change the game and get the ball and all the different things it takes to be a defensive-player-of-the-year caliber guy. And I most definitely see him on that kind of trajectory, he’s balling.

Wilson: I knew he was going to be good. He had a great career in college so a guy like that just kind of naturally translates to the league as well.

Rice: Fully legit. Fully capable of reaching a stratus in this league that’s unparalleled. Like he has an ability to reach a level that not a lot of guys have played at and to elevate that team to Super Bowls. Look what they’re doing defensively already. Another thing that he does that I like is he makes the play.

Lawrence: He’s going to be as good as he wants to be. He’s super young. … After his rookie year, our first goal was that he didn’t have any sacks off the bull rush, it was all effort plays and so the biggest thing that we wanted to do was put size on him so in the last two years he’s put on about 25 pounds of muscle and lost about 15 pounds of fat so he’s under 10% body fat right now, which is pretty good for a guy who’s 268-270 [pounds] to be right around 10% body fat.

Dent: Six-and-a-half sacks in three games. That’s cool [if] you get two sacks a game. He’s always going to play on fast turf at home so that’s a winner. So, to me, guys who come in the league, your second or third year should be your biggest years if you’re a great one.

McGilvra: He’s got gold jacket [Hall of Famer] written all over him. He’s one of those generational guys that people will be talking about in the future way down the road.

Is he overrated, underrated or rated properly?

Rice: He’s not overrated, he’s not underrated. He’s on his own projection and I think it’s fair play. He’s getting down right now, so I think he’s gained his star status that he came out of Michigan with and I think he’s holding guard. You can laud him more, you can praise him more, but for what? Look what he’s doing right now for what he’s doing. Keep him hungry.

McGilvra: Definitely was a little underrated even during the draft process. He should have been the clear first pick. There’s just nobody like him. But looking at it now, he’s rated right around where he should be. One of the top edge players in the entire NFL. He’s in that Tier 1 category with the [T.J.] Watt, [Joey] Bosa, Mack, Von [Miller], [Micah] Parsons, [Myles] Garrett group.

Aidan Hutchinson has had at least one sack in each game this season. Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Are there any players — past or present — he reminds you of when you watch him play? And why?

McGilvra: He reminds me a little bit of Julius Peppers. But with the same length but very skillful almost basketball-player-like with his movement skills. And the way he connects all his rushes to blend off his speed and power. It’s beautiful to watch.

Rice: He doesn’t remind me of me. I’m a whole ‘nother thing, but he’s got some things where I’m like this kid is nice, man, he’s special. He don’t remind me of too many people to be honest with you. He’s kind of like his own fresh breed because he is slick. He’s got some slickness to him.

What part of his game needs improvement?

Dent: Your first 2-4 years is all physical things. Now after that you’ve got to rebrand yourself. You’ve got to get intelligent to the game and not let your body have to work so hard. So, the smarter he gets, the less his body has to work so hard. So, to be a great one, and great ones, s— we all ran out of gas, but how smart were you to your opponent, who you’re playing, how did you go about that? Because the better I am mentally, the less physical I have to be. If I know everything, I don’t have to fight for everything.

That third year is generally a grown man year. If you don’t own the league your first years, that’s when you’re going to own it. He’s got potential to own it this year. To me, if he’s approaching 18-20 area [for sacks] that’s what you’re looking at. That tells you he’s on path.

McGilvra: As long as he’s locked into what he’s been doing, he’s going to continue to get better. You always have to sharpen your tools no matter how good you get. Aidan gets that. He’s locked in and has an incredible team with him. I’m truly happy to see how he just dominates every snap. He respects the game fully with his play.

Sewell: When you want to be in that [greatness] conversation, it just comes down to consistency. So, doing whatever he’s doing right now, on a consistent basis, every day and every game.

Lawrence: We addressed them this year. Last year, he needed to improve his size and then his strength and he was there and had quite a few bull-rush sacks where he was able to rip through. This year you can see it, he’s getting a lot more holding penalties and then this year it was improving his get-off so he’s a top guy in the NFL right now.

Rice: It takes time. I don’t think [there’s] something that he’s struggling with at all. I just think recognition in terms of like run pass sometimes, what they’re doing, but I really don’t think it’s that. I just think as you play, as you mature, your game just kind of gets better. I don’t see any real deficiencies in his game. I don’t. Everybody [is] going to make mistakes here and there, but overall, he looks like he’s on a great path.

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