Just like defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn on draft night, just like GM Brad Holmes beside him, Lions assistant GM Ray Agnew was grinning as he talked about Aidan Hutchinson on Thursday.
"I can’t stop smiling," said Agnew. "I love the kid."
On the field, Hutchinson scowls. He huffs and puffs and gives offensive linemen headaches. He harasses the quarterback on one play and chases down a running back the next. Once he starts, he does not stop. This is how he played at Michigan and nothing has changed since he was drafted second overall by the Lions, who are counting on Hutchinson to give their defense a boost. He already has.
"The immediate impact he’s had so far -- he hasn’t played a regular season NFL game yet -- but since he stepped out there on the grass he made it known pretty quickly that he's about business," Holmes said Thursday. "And there are some things that he’s shown that I think some people didn’t even know he had."
That includes Agnew, who admitted that Hutchinson is "a much better athlete than you thought he was in the draft process."
Hutchinson, as Holmes said Tuesday, was considered a "high-floor player" in the draft, which invited questions about his ceiling. He was labeled a safe pick at the top of the board. But the Lions didn't fall into that trap. They dug deep into Hutchinson's college tape and realized there was more to his game than coming off the edge "and a lot of things that we knew he could get better at," said Holmes.
"The things he can do rushing the passer, inside, off the edge, using his hands, he’s very creative as a rusher," said Agnew.
The Lions plan to use Hutchinson up and down their defensive line this season. They plan to let him loose. In doing so, they expect him to spark a pass rush that produced the third fewest sacks in the NFL last season and solidify a run defense that allowed the fifth most yards per game. They expect him to be a difference-maker from the jump.
"Obviously when you pick a guy No. 2 overall, you expect him to start year one, but you don’t know when it’s really going to turn on," said Holmes. "When Ray and I were with the Rams, we drafted Aaron Donald (No. 13) and Aaron Donald wasn’t the Week 1 starter, so you don’t know when it’s going to happen. Probably should have been, but whatever. But with Aidan, it was so quick."
Indeed, on his first NFL snap in the Lions' preseason opener, Hutchinson chased down Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota. He blew past veteran offensive tackle Jake Matthews and dropped the Falcons running back for a loss on his second. Time will tell what the Lions truly have in Hutchinson, but Holmes and Agnew believe they have a star.
"We got the right one," said Agnew. "I’ll put it that way."
"Absolutely," Holmes smiled.
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