Aidan Hutchinson is off social media, a second overall pick trying to block out the noise. Sometimes it finds him all the same -- and sometimes it's not so bad. Earlier this week, one of Hutchinson's old coaches at Michigan sent him a graphic that shows the defensive end leads all NFL rookies in sacks, QB hits and QB pressures. The pass rusher, it turns out, has been rushing the passer.
"I mean, yeah, that’s cool, but I’m not really aiming to beat the other rookies," Hutchinson said Thursday. "That’s not really my mentality. It’s never been my mentality. I think above that. Just rolling every day and working hard."
There have been games this season where Hutchinson has looked like a star, like a wrecking ball, every bit of the franchise player the Lions couldn't draft fast enough in April. And there have been games where he has looked like a rookie. Recently, it's been more of the former, which is what you'd expect as he continues to adapt to the NFL.
"I think things have really started to slow down, even in how I game plan and how I see things," he said. "I think things have just gotten simpler in my head. As you go along and play against all these different tackles, I think it’s gotten a lot better for me. Talking about my progression, it’s definitely on that upward trend, I feel like, especially with some of the scheme changes that have been helping me and getting me into better positions."
The Lions and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn unshackled Hutchinson, so to speak, after Detroit's Week 6 bye. Heeding Hutchinson's feedback, they've deployed him more frequently in a two-point stance on the edge, which is how he was most successful rushing the passer in college. He immediately rewarded them with two sacks and four QB pressures against the Cowboys in Week 7.
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Over his first four games, Hutchinson had a Pro Football Focus grade of 66.9, which ranked 28th among rookies. It's up to 74.7 over his last four, 11th among rookies -- still not ideal for a player of his pedigree, but better. Interestingly, Glenn said Thursday that the Lions plan to use Hutchinson "on the interior" more often moving forward in an effort to cause more problems up front.
"We didn’t get to as much as we wanted to in this past game, but you’ll start to see that," said Glenn. "But that ‘want to’ as far as him being inside, I know he likes being on the edge on, but I think you’ll see him do some pretty good things on the inside also. Those are things that he stays improving on and I’m excited to see him in those situations.”
On the edge, Hutchinson has more room to operate. He can put his speed to better use. But he can certainly cause problems on the interior, which would help a Lions defense that's allowing the most yards per play (6.4), the most yards per pass (8.1) and the fifth most yards per rush (5.0) in the NFL. Frankly, the Lions defense could use help everywhere.
"I think it’s really just a spacial thing," Hutchinson said of rushing from the inside versus the outside. "Being in three technique, you got a lot less room to work and everything hits a little quicker, so you gotta be quicker with your footwork. And then the edge is obviously pretty open, but you can get chipped more and there’s more ways to slow edge rushers down."
Nine games remain in Hutchinson's rookie season. He's first among rookies with five sacks -- or 4.5, depending who's counting. He's tied for first, with fellow first-round pick George Karlaftis of the Chiefs, with 24 QB pressures and tied for second, with fifth overall pick Kayvon Thibodeaux of the Giants, with 15 QB hurries, according to PFF. He has not been dominant, because rookies rarely are. But he has stood out amongst his peers.
"One thing that Aidan has done a really good job of is buying into some of the things that we want to get done," said Glenn. "That can be technically, that can be scheme-wise, and also (us) being able to listen to him on some things that he likes. I think that’s the new way, that’s the new age of listen to the player and let them have input."
The more Hutchinson continues to put into Detroit's defense, the more the Lions will get out of the No. 2 pick.
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