Aidan Hutchinson and Kayvon Thibodeaux have many similarities.
Both are a few weeks away from their second seasons in the NFL after being top-five picks in 2022. Both were considered the best pure pass rushers in their rookie class by scores of pundits. Both played big parts in their team’s winning records a year ago.
And there’s another thing: Both spent their winters doing everything possible to avoid returning as the same player.
“A lot of people in their second year, they get too comfortable,” Thibodeaux said Tuesday after the Giants’ joint practice with the Lions at Allen Park. “For me, I don’t want to find that complacency in knowing what’s going on and having that rhythm. I want to continue to be hungry, continue to know that I can get better and keep growing.”
Lon Horwedel/USA TODAY Sports (Hutchinson); Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports (Thibodeaux)
For Hutchinson, the grind of an NFL season changed him. Literally.
During his first season, the former Michigan star lost between five and eight pounds, making it tough for him to maintain his physical standard.
As a result, his offseason was about finding every edge while building a bit differently for a task he’s now much better prepared.
“It was an all-around progression,” Hutchinson says. “Kind of getting my stuff together in the different parts of my life: nutrition, dialing in on sleep, dialing in on strength and speed. I lost a lot of weight last year during the season, so I had to get that back. Honestly, it was development in all of the different facets. It was a great offseason.”
The attention to detail isn’t surprising. I spent two days around Hutchinson at the Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, Calif., as he prepared for last year’s scouting combine. One takeaway was watching Hutchinson refuel with only distilled water, saying he got the minerals elsewhere. It’s a small note, but it paints an accurate picture of his training.
As for Thibodeaux, the details are only part of the equation.
While Hutchinson posted 9.5 sacks and 30 quarterback pressures over 17 games, Thibodeaux totaled four sacks and 18 pressures in 14 contests. Watching New York’s games, the Oregon product made an impact, but this year he’s looking to do more.
Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports
“It’s understanding you can learn from every little bit,” Thibodeaux says. “A lot of people say focus on the details, but you really have to focus on the big things, the little things. Everything is to a new, heightened level. Now that I have the ability to do what I do, I have to apply that attention to detail to everything.”
This offseason, Thibodeaux says some of his best development came in watching film, picking up little tips and tricks in how to apply his talents to what is happening.
The No. 5 pick in the first round likens football to another game he loves, chess, explaining that the battle up front can often be about the mental side as much as the raw physicality.
“Chess is a heavyweight match,” Thibodeaux says. “It’s understanding that sometimes you have to sacrifice certain things to get where you want to be. Understanding what I have to do and how I have to set my opponent up to ultimately get the win I want.”
Now in his second season with veteran defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, Thibodeaux can apply those lessons within a scheme he both has a better knowledge of and experience within.
Martindale’s blitz-heavy scheme creates plenty of one-on-ones for edge rushers. Thibodeaux believes the key is stopping the run, getting opponents into long down-and-distance situations, which allows the rush to tee off.
For Thibodeaux and fellow pass rushers Azeez Ojulari and Dexter Lawrence, the defensive style is a godsend, freeing them up to play with an aggression some coaches would attempt to harness with a more conservative approach.
“He lets us play fast, he lets us play physical, and it’s really up to us.” Thibodeaux says of Martindale. “Being a team that has a coach who believes in the players, we’re able to play to our skill sets. A lot of teams, coaches just play their way, but the ball is in our court.”
Lon Horwedel/USA TODAY Sports
In Detroit, the Lions also play an attacking style under defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.
While Martindale’s Giants ranked first in blitz percentage last season (44.7% per Next Gen Stats), Detroit checked in seventh. And considering the additions to the Lions’ secondary, which include rookie safety Brian Branch along with free-agent acquisitions in safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and corners Emmanuel Moseley and Cam Sutton, Glenn might feel more confident in sending extra rushers, knowing the back end can hold up.
After starting 1–6 in 2022, the Lions improved dramatically, finishing 8–2 behind a defense which went from allowing 32.1 points per game to 20.2.
From Hutchinson’s vantage point, the returning players have to set the tone in the NFL’s season opener Sept. 7 against the Super Bowl–champion Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
“We just have to carry on what we did, carry on that momentum. We’ve got different guys, so it’s a different energy. It’s hard to carry over because you don’t have the same crew out there. But I think we have a lot of the core guys back and a similar scheme to what we were doing last year, so I don’t think it’ll be too hard. Hopefully, in Kansas City, we’ll start hot and keep it going for 17 games.”
Staying hot for 17 games is no easy task.
But for Hutchinson and Thibodeaux and their two ascending teams, that’s the challenge at hand.
