Just one season into the NFL and the Detroit Lions Aidan Hutchinson has already made an impact. While he was expected to be an immediate impact player, I don’t think anyone could predict it would go this well for him in year one.
Drafted as the number two overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Hutchinson registered 9.5 sacks while having 9 tackles for loss and 15 QB hits in 17 games. He also became the fifth player and first rookie with three interceptions and nine-plus sacks since individual sacks were officially tracked in 1982, per NFL research.
Every NFL off-season, the NFL has the players in the league vote on who the top-100 players in the league are. For Hutchinson, he was voted as the 88th best player in the NFL from his peers.
As of now, Hutchinson is the only player from the Detroit Lions on the top-100 list. However, there’s only been the players ranked from 100th to 81st overall revealed. Former Lions running back Jamaal Williams was listed as the 95th overall player. We very well could see Hutchinson’s teammates such as Penei Sewell, Frank Ragnow and Amon-Ra St. Brown on the list.
During the reveal of Hutchinson as the 88th overall player in the top-100, here’s a few things that were said about him from players around the league:
- “As the seasons progress, you start to see him get better and better. Both in the pass-rush game and in the run game as well.” – Eagles OT Lane Johnson
- “Some people have, just, that they were born with it. The natural thing that you’re born with. He’s definitely one of those guys that were born with it.” – Saints IOL Cesar Ruiz
- “I think he’s definitely proved a lot of people wrong.” – Cowboys LB Micah Parsons
- “I’ll be the first to admit that he was basically playing in our entire backfield when we played them. He’s that type of player.” – Jets RB Zonovan Knight
You can see the full clip of Hutchinson’s reveal into the NFL Top-100 Players below:
Aidan Hutchinson comes in at #88 on the #NFLTop100 after his rookie campaign #OnePride pic.twitter.com/WYt6hsAJ5c
— Honolulu Blues (@HonoluluBlues_) July 25, 2023
