Aaron Glenn sees greatness in Aidan Hutchinson, who sees it in himself. The Lions defensive coordinator told the Pro Bowl defensive end as he enters the third season of his career that "he needs to set his sights on being, if not the best player defensively in this league, one of the best players -- which he is, but now it’s time to look at himself as the best player."
"Me and AG, we talked about it a little bit, but it was more of an understanding where we both know it’s year three and how I practice and how I play, it’s just continuing to go at a higher level," Hutchinson said last week. "And I view myself up there, obviously. I just take it week by week and you look at the end of the year and check it out."
Let's check it out now. After marauding the Buccaneers' offensive line for 4.5 sacks in the Lions' loss to Tampa on Sunday -- "Hate that we couldn’t get a win for him, but what a hell of a performance," said new teammate DJ Reader -- Hutchinson has more sacks to kick off the season than 18 NFL teams. It took him 10 games to reach 5.5 sacks last year after a protracted drought in October and November, two games this year.
"Aidan Hutchinson has no off switch," Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield said after Sunday's game -- without being asked about him. "He’s never stopping."
He hardly even rests. Hutchinson played all but eight defensive snaps for the Lions in Week 2 after playing all but five in Week 1. He flies off the ball from both ends of the defensive line, and "they do a good job of moving him around," said Mayfield, "to where you can’t just game-plan one certain look." Hutchinson feasted against Bucs backup right tackle Justin Skule, and kept eating when they brought extra help with running backs and tight ends.
“He’s a hell of a player," said Buccaneers head coach and noted defensive mind Todd Bowles. "He made our life miserable over there."
It's only two games -- and that bears repeating -- but Hutchinson has his teammates shaking their heads. Left tackle Taylor Decker, who had to deal with Hutchinson throughout training camp when he wasn't Penei Sewell's problem, whistled when he confirmed exactly how many sacks Hutchinson had against the Bucs. Linebacker Derrick Barnes, who does some pass rushing himself, said the 24-year-old makes him rethink his own life.
"Like, seriously. Sometimes I’ll be like, am I living right? I think I’m living right, you know? I’m loyal, I’m smiling all the time, upstanding guy, a man of God — I’m like, what is he doing? No, I’m just kidding," Barnes said. "But no, Hutch is a guy that I see work every day on his craft. He’s younger than me, but I look up to the guy. I’m always willing to learn and he’s been super helpful to me in getting back into the pass rush. But he is unreal. My opinion, definitely one of the best pass rushers in the league."
It's one thing to hear that from Barnes, who's spent the duration of his young career in Detroit. It's another to hear this from Reader, the nine-year vet who once played in Houston with two-time Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt and in Cincinnati with Trey Hendrickson, who has the third most sacks in the NFL over the past five seasons: "He’s got all the tools to be a Defensive Player of the Year."
"What really stands out is his work ethic, his determination to be great," said Reader. "Aidan’s got that look in his eye that he’s not just talking about it, he’s being about it. I respect that as an older player, just because he goes about it every single day to be better. And what’s this, year three? Yeah, a guy in year three doing that, it’s amazing. He’s got his eyes on the right stuff."
Through two games, Hutchinson's pass rush win rate is a ridiculous 41.2 percent, per Pro Football Focus, best in the NFL. Hendrickson is the next-closest player at 29.2 percent, a gap that more than accounts for the fact that Hutchinson has taken advantage of some beat-up offensive lines. Asked if Hutchinson reminds him of any other pass rushers he's come across in the NFL, Reader pointed to Raiders star Maxx Crosby, who leads the league in tackles for loss over the last three seasons.
"They both spin, big hustle, high-effort guys, get after it, play at that same speed all game," Reader said. "But I would say the way he drops in coverages and stuff like that, he’s got a complete game about him. It’s just awesome to see him be this developed at this age, he’s only going to get better."
Hutchinson is obsessed with growth. As Barnes put it, his "strive is crazy." Everything he does is geared toward entering what he calls "the flow state," where he's immersed in the task in front of him. He meditates. He believes in the power of visualization. When he got hot at the end of last season, he called it "a knowing." He places a premium on sleep. If he's not sleeping, he's probably dissecting his film. He's hyper-conscious about what he puts into his body to get as much out of it as humanly possible.
Last year's sack drought gnawed at Hutchinson. He was piling up pressures with little to show for it, totaling two sacks over 10 games from October to December. It also spawned growth, mentally more than anything. Hutchinson learned to block out the frustration. This year, he said, "I just block out the world."
"I don’t look at any other pass rusher and what they got, because the second you start looking at someone else’s number or this and that, subconsciously it's just not good for you," Hutchinson said. "So I’ve taken a major focus on just staying in my lane, because the season is so long you just gotta stay consistently good."
The physical growth is just as real. Decker said he and Sewell could feel it during their battles in training camp: "He just gets better and better and better. The guy is relentless every single day." Hutchinson said last week that he's "definitely found more ways to be three-dimensional as a pass rusher, as in counter, power and set the edge." Then he went out and showed it against the Bucs. He was so dialed in, it almost didn't matter what they tried to do to stop him.
Hutchinson had a hat trick before the second quarter. His first sack came on a stunt with Alim McNeill where Hutchinson jumped inside, burst past the right guard, planted Mayfield into the turf and caused a fumble that the Bucs were fortunate to recover on third and goal. Reader also provided a strong push up the middle.
His second came on a power rush where Hutchinson beat Skule so cleanly off the right edge that he got to Mayfield before Levi Onwuzurike, who was unblocked through the middle. His third came on a speed rush around Skule before Mayfield had time to escape to the left.
By then, the Bucs were done leaving Skule one-on-one with the best player on the other side. On his fourth sack, Hutchinson barreled through running back Rachad White and then ripped past Skule. On his fifth, which he shared with Onwuzurike, he shrugged off tight end Cade Otton and shoved Skule out of the way as McNeill applied pressure up the middle. Mayfield had nowhere to go.
Linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez yelled in his direction -- "Hutch!!" -- and held up five fingers with a smile. Hutchinson couldn't help but smile back. Four of his sacks were drive-enders. Flow state achieved.
"It was fun out there," said Hutchinson. "I was just staying very focused the whole game. I think our rush lanes were really good. A couple of those sacks, our D-tackles were getting great penetration and then I’m just wrapping it off. So it’s my production, but I think a lot of it was our D-line just playing at a high level and I was reaping the rewards. It’s definitely the result of everybody rushing really hard."
Hutchinson can be construed as aloof, or occasionally distant. He's a former No. 2 pick who thrives in a state of zen, untethered to his surroundings. Much as he talks about "the boys," Hutchinson operates, at his best, on a plane in his own universe. Then again, this is exactly how he remains present. Reader said one of the things he likes best about Hutchinson is that "he's just one of the guys." He was elected a captain this year by his teammates.
"It’s not like he’s sitting over there all to himself, you know what I’m saying? He does a good job of being an amazing teammate. That’s really what it is for me, because the football stuff takes care of itself. I know he’s a great player. As a teammate, he makes sure guys are on point," Reader said. "It’s dope to be around him."
Dan Campbell tends to grin when Hutchinson's name comes up. He loves that one of the Lions' best players is driven to the point of never being satisfied. He raves about Hutchinson's "motor." Campbell isn't duped by try-hards or flash players, having played in the NFL for 10 years himself. It was thus all the more meaningful when he said after Sunday's loss, "To be able to play at the rate that he plays at, at that intensity, for that many snaps in a game is rare."
"Then, on top of that, he’s got talent and he’s continued to develop his different moves. He’s got different moves now. He’s got the long arm, he’s got the spin, he can dip and rip, he can chop, he can swat. So if you ever get one-on-one, he’s going to eat you up more times than not," Campbell said.
Barnes guessed that despite Hutchinson's Herculean game, "he’s still not gonna sleep tonight because we didn’t win." In all likelihood, Hutchinson slept just fine. It would be too costly to toss and turn at the expense of recharging his body and mind. It would be a waste of time to obsess over something that's already done. It's the work yet to be done that matters to Hutchinson, who said after chatting with some of his teammates in the locker room, "I think this is going to be really good for us."
"We had an early loss last year, too," he said. "I remember we lost to Seattle and everyone thought we sucked again, so we’re going to keep this one in perspective. If we’re going to be struggling a little bit as a team, I’d rather we struggle early than late. The plan is to catch fire through the season and then we go from there."
If Hutchinson stays hot, he'll like how it looks at the end of the year.