J.J. Watt: Detroit Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson will challenge for NFL sack title soon
LAS VEGAS — The numbers are subjective, but however you cut it, Aidan Hutchinson was one of the most disruptive pass rushers in the NFL this year.
Now, one prominent analyst said the Detroit Lions need to add another edge rusher to pair with Hutchinson to elevate their defense in 2024.
“It certainly helps a lot, any time that you can have a guy help take pressure off you, maybe take a chip off here or a double team off there,” CBS analyst (and five-time All-Pro) J.J. Watt told the Free Press at Super Bowl 58 last week. “Aidan’s always going to get double-teamed and chipped. That’s just a fact of the matter when you’re a premier pass rusher in this league. But if you can get somebody on the other side that can take advantage of the one-on-ones, then that’s when you really start to help your team.”
Hutchinson had 11½ sacks in the regular season and three more in the playoffs to help the Lions reach the NFC championship game.
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He ranked among the league leaders in quarterback pressures — he had an NFL-best 62, according to Pro Football Reference; or 101, second most in the league, if you prefer Pro Football Focus — yet didn’t garner a vote for Defensive Player of the Year.
Watt, one of only four other players to record at least 100 pressures in a season according to PFF, said Hutchinson already ranks among the game’s elite pass rushers just two seasons into his NFL career.
“He’s a great player,” said Watt, a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year. “He can use power, he can use speed, he can use the spin move that he’s been using lately. And he also plays well against the run, so he’s a very good player. He’s constantly trying to improve, which I look forward to seeing him grow even further moving forward.”
The No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft, Hutchinson was a regular in opposing backfields this season but had two lengthy sack droughts that likely cost him DPOY votes.
Hutchinson went four games without a sack from mid-October to mid-November, then had one sack in a five-game stretch before exploding for three sacks and a forced fumble in a Week 17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Watt said Hutchinson could challenge for the NFL sack title if the Lions get him some help on the edge.
“I don’t see why not,” Watt said. “I think he has the work ethic, he has the drive, he has the skill set. I have no reason to believe he wouldn’t be. I also think it’s awesome to see him get drafted there, in Detroit, with Dan Campbell and everything that’s come. Some situations just fit and make sense and that’s one that does.”
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The Lions got good play out of defensive tackle Alim McNeill (five sacks) last season, but no other defensive lineman had more than two sacks, and McNeill and fellow young pass rushers James Houston (zero sacks, two games) and Josh Paschal (one sack, 12 games) missed time with injury.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes indicated in his end-of-season news conference last week the Lions are looking for help for their defensive line, though he said the more pressing concern is keeping their young nucleus intact.
“I know everybody wants everything to be paired,” Holmes said. “You have a Pro Bowl pass rusher that (had) double-digit sacks and 100 pressures. Everybody wants to pair the pass rusher with somebody. You have a D-tackle that was on his way before he got hurt to, potentially, a Pro Bowl season, sacks. You want to pair him with that guy. You have a promising young safety, you want to pair him with — everybody wants to, and trust me, that’s what we want, too. We want the same thing.”
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Former Lions defensive end Michael Brockers, who now hosts his own football-centric podcast The BrockCast, said adding defensive line help should be a priority for the Lions this offseason, though he likes some of the young talent around Hutchinson.
“It’s like the A.D. effect,” Brockers said, referring to his old teammate with the Los Angeles Rams, future Hall-of-Fame defensive tackle Aaron Donald. “People aren’t going to let you just wreck games. There’s people like, ‘Oh, man, he was such a good player, what’s happened?’ He’s getting the attention he deserves, that’s what happens. You get triple-teamed and double-teamed and stuff like that.”
Brockers, who played for the Lions in 2021-22, said he sees Houston as a situational pass rusher only, but likes Paschall’s upside.
“I love James Houston, but I feel like he’s a situational pass rusher,” Brockers said. “I’m going to be honest with you. He’s a smaller guy, I think that’s what he does well and I don’t think you should make him play all downs because I don’t think he’ll be effective in there. I think if you have him on any kind of second-and-long, third-and-long package, he’ll do well. Maybe get somebody else that can play those base packages and still get after the passer.
“Paschal? I like Paschal. They give him some more run, he gets some more technique, just learning how to rush the passer, I think he’ll be a phenomenal player.”
More from Brockers
Brockers said he felt “love” watching the Lions make their run to the NFC championship game this season, in his first year away from the team.
Brockers said he texted a congratulatory message to Lions linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard, his former teammate at LSU, after the team’s playoff win over the Los Angeles Rams and got a message back saying, “There’s a little sprinkle of you still in the building.”
“Hearing that from a guy who’s in it, it made me feel good,” Brockers said. “Definitely made me feel a part of the team, so just having that little sense of just gratification made me feel really good.”
The Lions acquired Brockers in a 2021 trade with the Rams to add veteran leadership to their defensive line room. Brockers had one sack in 22 games with the Lions over two seasons.
“To know that I did my job and now they’re winning after, it made me feel really good,” Brockers said. “Even though I’m not there with the team, my job is done, they have a foundation, guys want to go to the Lions. It’s not like an, ‘Oh, if I go to the Lions, I’m going to be lost.’ Now it’s, ‘Oh, I go to the Lions I can be on Sunday night TV, I’m winning games,' things of that nature. It’s very exciting.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Analysts think Detroit Lions need to get Aidan Hutchinson help on line
