Getty Aidan Hutchinson celebrates in a 2022 Lions game.
The Detroit Lions selected Aidan Hutchinson second-overall with the hopes that he would supply his team with a boost, and so far, that’s been the case.
After struggling to make a few plays in the season opener, Hutchinson roared back in a big way in Week 2. He would finish the game with three sacks and five tackles, and make a huge impact in the game.
That has led folks to realize what Hutchinson is doing in Detroit, and proclaim him as a potential new star in the making for the team. NFL.com reporter Eric Edholm was the latest to beat this drum.
Recapping the 36-27 win over the Washington Commanders, Edholm touched on Hutchinson’s star power and admitted he is a big believer in what the rookie can do already.
“Sure, it’s only two games. But as it stands now, the Hutchinson pick looks like a home run. He’s now a huge part of this Lions culture change and rebuild, and the results are coming to fruition early,” Edholm wrote.
Seeing such a dramatic impact for Hutchinson is likely just what the Lions craved for their rookie. Now, it will be important for Hutchinson to keep the momentum going in the right direction the rest of the year and not hit the rookie wall.
That will be the goal, but as this analysis and others seems to hint, he could be well-tooled to make it happen.
Hutchinson Near top of Key Stats Early
It’s clear that Hutchinson has some breakout ability early in his career. Already, he has surged to the top of some NFL leaderboards to start the season.
Hutchinson is a leader in terms of league sacks heading into Week 3. So far, he is just one sack off the pace set by Micah Parsons in spite of having a slow start to Week 1 statistically.
In addition to that, Hutchinson continues to press the pocket in a big way. In terms of rookie pressures up front, there’s been nobody better than Hutchinson and Kansas City rookie George Karlaftis to this point, as each have collected a whopping nine pressures through two games.
Coming into the year, many wondered if Hutchinson could contend for Rookie of the Year and other top honors. His performance in this game shows why that should easily be the case.
Hutchinson’s Week 2 Encouraging for Lions
There’s no question Hutchinson took on the look of a future star in Week 2, and a big reason was his explosion in addition to production.
While the team had a huge day on offense, the reason the Lions were able to sustain the win was due to the defense. It was quite an effort for the team, and Hutchinson played perhaps the most important leading role.
Hutchinson collected three sacks on the day, and showed off an impressive burst as well as a solid array of moves on the afternoon.
.@aidanhutch97 caused a scene 🕺
#WASvsDET | 📺 FOX
Better than all of this, Hutchinson played through pain and was gritty as they come on the field as things ticked down. He helped put the game away by staying on the field and refusing to stop playing.
After Hutchinson did not register on the stat sheet Week 1, there was some trepidation and frustration with his first game. This effort proved why nobody should have been giving up on Hutchinson so early in his career.
Now, in the weeks ahead, Hutchinson could be set to prove why he has as much star potential as any player in the league on the defensive side of the ball.
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