INDIANAPOLIS — Aidan Hutchinson sounds ready for the next step.
And if it’s a short one, as some expect, with Michigan’s All-America edge rusher an easy projection to the Lions with the No. 2 overall pick in April’s NFL draft, the Plymouth, Mich., native sounds prepared for that, too.
"It would definitely be cool," Hutchinson said Friday at the NFL scouting combine, where he’ll be looking to cement his status as one of the best prospects in this class. "I'd be living close to home. It would definitely make the transition a bit easier to the NFL, just being so close to home and close to my parents."
And in case the Lions’ ownership is listening, here’s one more unintentional bit of lobbying on Hutchinson’s part. When asked Friday what he’d spend his first NFL paycheck on after he signs a contract later this summer, Hutchinson thought for a moment before answering.
“Probably have to be a Ford Bronco,” he said, smiling. “Get a little car — affordable, but good-looking. That's definitely what I've got on my mind. And then we're going to figure the rest of it out.”
First, though, these NFL teams have to figure it all out. And this week’s scouting combine is another important piece in that puzzle, from the extensive medical exams to the hours of formal and informal interviews with teams and, of course, the on-field drills that will take place Saturday for the defensive linemen and linebackers at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Both Hutchinson and Oregon edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, another projected top-10 pick, are eager to put their best foot forward here, on the field — expect some eye-popping results from each — and in the interview rooms. But neither seems too keen on turning this into a head-to-head matchup.
“I mean, I think he would agree with me: I don't think there's any comparison,” Hutchinson said. “I think we're both trying to be the best players we can be. And whichever team picks us, we control the controllables and we move on."
Still, the media — and NFL teams — are doing just that, and that’ll continue over the next two months.
“Hutchinson has more ways to get to the quarterback,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “I think he's got more tools in that regard. I also think he plays a lot harder on a consistent basis. I think that's a little bit of a knock on Thibodeaux, is there are times where the effort kind of comes and goes a little bit. You don't ever see that with Hutchinson. ...
“You see it in flashes with Thibodeaux, but I think overall kind of the theme is that Hutchinson — especially this year when you compare those two guys — down in, down out, game in, game out, was just more consistent throughout the season.”
Thibodeaux seems intent on dispelling that widely-held notion in his meetings with NFL coaches and general managers in Indianapolis. Sure, he has varied interests off the field, and, yes, he talked about building his “brand” Friday during his media session.
"But I think the biggest thing I want to articulate to the teams is that I'm really a student of the game, that I really love this game,” said Thibodeaux, an All-American this past season who finished his Oregon career with 19 sacks and 35.5 tackles for loss in 30 games.
“Football has taught me a lot. It's helped me grow a lot. It'll be there until the day I die. For me, it’s just letting teams know that this is the main thing. No matter what else I do off the field, football is my main focus. Winning a Super Bowl, getting a yellow (Hall of Fame) jacket, being defensive rookie of the year (are) on my list of goals."
Hutchinson may have similar goals, but mostly what he talked about Friday was what it felt like to finally win something “significant” with the Wolverines last fall, as Michigan went 12-2 and knocked off arch-rival Ohio State for the first time since 2011.
“My senior year, I really wanted to go out with a bang and just do something with my football career for once, from a team perspective,” he said. “I was able to do that and I gained insight on what it's like to win a championship and what kind of team you have to be, the kind of guys (you need) and how you have to act and how you build a culture.”
That’s a message that’ll certainly resonate with the Lions’ decision-makers, a group of whom Hutchinson was expected to sit down with Friday. He’ll likely be brought in for one of the team’s visits in Allen Park prior to the draft as well.
"From what I know of him, he seems like that type of (competitive) guy,” Lions GM Brad Holmes said Tuesday. “He’s from Detroit, plays hard, had a very productive year. But we’ll get whatever questions answered out of him throughout this week and going forward.”
Undoubtedly, he’s the kind of player that can help the Lions, who’ve had just three individual double-digit sack seasons in the last decade: Ziggy Ansah in 2015 and ’17, and Romeo Okwara in 2020. Okwara is coming off a torn Achilles suffered in early October, while Detroit’s other veteran starter, Trey Flowers, is a potential cap casualty this offseason and last year’s sack leader, Charles Harris, is a pending free agent.
Jacksonville holds the No. 1 overall pick and seems inclined to draft one of the top offensive tackles, Alabama’s Evan Neal or North Carolina State’s Ikem Ekwonu to help protect last year’s No. 1 pick, quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
But whether Hutchinson goes next to Detroit — Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton might be in the mix, too — or No. 3 to Houston, or somewhere else, he knows he’ll be carrying some added weight as a rookie.
“There are always expectations, there's all of that,” said Hutchinson, who is coming off a dominant senior season that saw him break Michigan’s single-season sack record (14) while leading the Wolverines to a Big Ten title and College Football Playoff berth. “But the way I block it out is just knowing my job and knowing that … I've been playing football for a long time. I'm very confident in my ability. I know who I am. I know what kind of player I am.”
And wherever he ends up, he knows what he wants. That feeling he had last season?
"I want that every year," Hutchinson said. "I want to win as many Super Bowls as I can. That's the goal. I just want to win now. I want to win everything."
