Eight years ago, when Al-Quadin Muhammad was a rookie defensive end on the Saints and Dan Campbell was the team's tight end coach, Campbell kept noticing the sixth-round pick giving the tight ends hell in one-on-one pass-rushing drills and told him that the way he was working, Muhammad recalled, "the way I was practicing, I would be a great player one day."
"I know what he’s about," Muhammad says now. "He’s not just talking. Everything he says he stands on."
In Detroit, Muhammad is starting to stand out. While angst rose this summer regarding the Lions' No. 2 pass rusher and then reached a crescendo when Marcus Davenport was injured, again, in the second game of the season, Muhammad was waiting in the wings. Now he's winning opposite Aidan Hutchinson, who said this week, "Quan has definitely added this layer of pass-rush that probably not many people thought was going to be the case this year."
"Not anything against Quan," said Hutchinson, a day before signing his four-year, $180 million extension as one of the best edge defenders in the NFL, "but it was going to be me and Marcus, and then Marcus going down, Quan got this unbelievable opportunity and he’s made the most of it. That’s a credit to him and his mindset and how he works and his ability, too."
Muhammad barely saw the field in the Lions' season-opening loss to the Packers. The coaching staff made sure to fix that the next week. In six games since assuming a significant role in Detroit's rotation up front, Muhammad has five sacks and 26 quarterback pressures. T.J. Watt over that stretch: five sacks and 26 pressures. Danielle Hunter over that stretch: five sacks and 26 pressures.
Muhammad isn't as dominant as those stars, and certainly not as complete a defender as Watt, but the Lions don't need him to be. That's Hutchinson's job. Muhammad's is to take advantage of his matchups on the other side.
"Hutch is the man," Muhammad said Thursday. "He’s one of the top rushers in the league. When he gets slides, he gets double teams, somebody else gotta win. That’s just the way it is. It’s actually a blessing, and I’m super fortunate to be part of this organization and to play with a guy like Aidan Hutchinson."
Other defensive ends, notably Tyler Lacy, have stepped up for Detroit against the run, where Muhammad lacks the size to be a real asset. But Hutchinson and Muhammad have formed the Lions' primary pass-rushing pair, and the numbers speak for themselves: Hutchinson is tied for seventh in the NFL in sacks, Muhammad tied for 12th, making the Lions one of only three teams with two players in the top 15.
If you prefer the fancier stats, both Hutchinson and Muhammad rank among the NFL's top 20 edge defenders this season, per PFF, in overall defensive grade, pass rush grade, pass-rush win rate and quarterback pressures. Only two other pairs around the NFL can say the same: Hunter and Will Anderson for the Texans, and Jared Verse and Byron Young for the Rams.
"I mean, where do we rank in sacks right now?" Hutchinson asked, as a way of making a point. (They're tied for fifth overall, tied for third in sacks per game). "I don’t know, I don’t know what the people want. All I know is that with the guys we got right now, we’re producing, and that kind of tells the story in and of itself."
Hutchinson and Muhammad work as a duo partly because they rush in different ways. Muhammad, at 6'3, 250 pounds, describes himself as "more twitchy" than powerful, while Hutchinson, at 6'5, 265 pounds, is pretty much the full package. In short, their different frames lead to a different arsenal of moves. But Muhammad will just as soon drive his head into a tackle's chest and bull-rush him into the quarterback's lap, or the turf. Braxton Jones of the Bears could attest.
"It works in that way, that it is complementary," said Hutchinson, "and he's even rushing inside a little bit, and still cooking inside, so it's impressive."
Muhammad, 30, took a winding road here, from New Orleans to Indianapolis to Chicago back to Indy -- where a suspension for performance enhancing drugs was part of a lost season in 2023 -- to Dallas and eventually, last year, to Detroit. He arrived in October on the practice squad, played his way up to the active roster in November and has stayed there since. He's one sack away from matching his career high six, which he set over 17 games in 2021.
Reuniting with Campbell has made an impact on Muhammad, who said that "you want to play for somebody that’s encouraging and also giving me opportunities as I do well."
"And I earned it," he said. "Nobody gave me anything. Each day and each game and each practice I have to keep earning it. I haven’t arrived. That’s the mentality. Just keep fu*king chipping away. That’s what it’s about."
There was a clamor during camp for the Lions to bring back Za'Darius Smith. There's still a chorus of fans pleading for the team to add another pass-rusher at the trade deadline opposite Hutchinson. Muhammad's emergence has quieted some of the chatter, not that he really cares. People talk. He plays.
"A lot of these reporters, a lot of these people, they don’t really know football, they don’t know the X’s and O’s, they don’t even really watch the tape, they don’t know too much of anything. So it’s like Coach Campbell said: we got what we need," Muhammad said. "And if you really watched football, all these speculations wouldn’t have been going on. Everybody likes a story. That just what comes with the territory of playing football."
Yes, Muhammad is proud of the way he's played this season, but he spends more of his time "looking at the plays that I personally left out there, that we personally left out there." A sack that got away in Cincinnati eats at him. So does a half-sack in Baltimore, his best game of the season, that he should've finished himself. Muhammad and Hutchinson talk frequently on the sidelines about different moves that will work against their opponents, their chemistry continuing to grow.
"He’s really putting so much good stuff on tape, and I’m happy for him," said Hutchinson. "I hope this serves him well and he continues to produce so he can get paid next year and use this to really put a great stamp on his career."
Muhammad, who re-upped with the Lions last offseason on a one-year, $1.4 million deal, isn't thinking that far ahead. He knows nothing good can from focusing on anything but the day at hand. There's a lot at stake for him this season, but even more for the Lions, who are chasing a Super Bowl. He's too consumed with now to worry about what comes next.
"I actually love the game of football, I’m really passionate about what I do, so it’s bigger than that, for me," Muhammad said. "The rest of the stuff will take care of itself."
Regardless of what happens at the deadline, the Lions will add two more defensive ends down the stretch with the returns of Davenport and Josh Paschal. As well as Kelvin Sheppard's defense has played thus far -- eighth in the NFL entering this weekend -- "it’s only going to get better when all our guys get healthy," said Muhammad.
"It’s a fun team to be a part of, a fun group to be a part of," he said, "and we’re just getting started."
Eight years after he was drafted, Muhammad might say the same for himself.