Aidan Hutchinson named PFF National Defensive Player of the Week + other high praise
Listening to Brian and Seth's podcast yesterday, they noted that although Hutchinson was not credited with an official sack on Saturday, his level of dominance could not be captured in that one stat. Turns out they were right. PFF had him as the country's best defender vs Wisconsin.
I'll leave the rest for you to read at the link, but suffice to say they broke the glass on the "best player in the country right now" phrasing. Great work Aidan and keep it up!
https://www.pff.com/news/college-football-week-x-team-of-the-week-player-awards-2021
October 4th, 2021 at 10:05 AM ^
They should just give it to him permanently and have a weekly competition for 2nd.
October 4th, 2021 at 10:15 AM ^
For the last 10+ years Barcelona discussion boards would have a MOTMOTM (man of the match other than Messi) because otherwise there would never be any discussion.
And now I'm crying.
October 4th, 2021 at 1:14 PM ^
Avatar checks out.
October 4th, 2021 at 10:06 AM ^
Really good to see Ojabo starting to hit his stride as well. You knew teams were going to be game planning for Aidan and sliding protection his way. Morris, Ojabo, Mazi and Hinton are starting to make that difficult. This will be a top 10 defense if these gentleman continue improving.
October 4th, 2021 at 10:09 AM ^
He’s headed towards a Bosa/Young trajectory. He’s unblockable
October 4th, 2021 at 10:18 AM ^
He can be held pretty effectively though.
October 4th, 2021 at 10:24 AM ^
I don't remember, did they call Wisconsin for holding him once all day?
October 4th, 2021 at 10:28 AM ^
The play PFF linked they called holding but we got the sack anyway on third down so it was declined. Don't remember if they called it any other time.
October 4th, 2021 at 10:43 AM ^
They did not. They called it on the one play where it could be declined.
I get that a lot of holds go uncalled because it's a small thing to see in a conflagration of large men. But the amount of calls Michigan gets compared to the DL they've had in the last 5 years, or so...
Good grief, man...
October 4th, 2021 at 11:25 AM ^
It was amazing how few holds were called in favor of Michigan for the couple seasons when Michigan was trotting out Maurice Hurst, Chase Winovich, Taco Charlton, Rashan Gary, etc.
October 4th, 2021 at 12:09 PM ^
Its because none of those guys consistently won with speed around the edge. Holding only gets called when its blindingly obvious, which is usually someone getting pulled down from the side or behind as they turn the edge. Something like an arm bar on an interior rush almost never gets called
October 4th, 2021 at 1:25 PM ^
How do you think next year's DL stacks up against that one?
October 4th, 2021 at 3:41 PM ^
I also recall during the Rutgers game and seeing at least 4 visible holds on him that were not called. Crazy.
October 4th, 2021 at 10:55 AM ^
Definitely wouldn't say Young territory, but close to Bosa territory
October 4th, 2021 at 11:00 AM ^
Thank you Chris for guiding your son and being in the position that he could come back, not needing to get into the draft right away. This D would look very different without him
October 4th, 2021 at 10:33 AM ^
That Bo Nix play in the link was crazy.
October 4th, 2021 at 10:42 AM ^
Love seeing him acknowledge other players who either made the play (e.g., jumping up and pointing at Ojabo on the strip) or contributed to a huge stop.
October 4th, 2021 at 10:43 AM ^
This guy has to be projected in top 10, possibly top 5 in the 2022 draft right? Guy is literally unblockable.
October 4th, 2021 at 11:11 AM ^
Yup, he's popping up in a lot of top 10 draft projections. Probably going to end up top 5 with this trajectory.
October 4th, 2021 at 12:43 PM ^
Welcome to the Detroit Lions Aidan.
October 4th, 2021 at 10:51 AM ^
Well deserved. The fact that he consistently demands double teams, helps everyone else and makes the rest of the defense better. On top of that, he’s able to make plays/impact the game despite occupying multiple blockers. It’s just really, really impressive.
October 4th, 2021 at 10:56 AM ^
Exciting for Hutchinson.
How about one of WMU’s receivers making the all-offense team? Doesn’t hurt to see opponents do well when not playing your team.
Remember this blogs hope for Emil Ekyor to come to M? I’m sure he’s a talented player but that play below where a guy playing his 13th snap just obliterates him is crazy!
October 4th, 2021 at 11:08 AM ^
WMU may end up looking like quite a quality win by the end of the season. They are undefeated since losing to us, with a win over Pitt. They are in the "also receiving votes" section of the polls and look like MAC championship contenders.
October 4th, 2021 at 11:28 AM ^
Dude was rampant. Even plays where they were avoiding him, he managed to cave in the edge and constrict the space.
October 4th, 2021 at 11:30 AM ^
Loved the play where the Ole Miss LB put Ekiyor on his ass
October 4th, 2021 at 11:46 AM ^
Though people give lip service to more than stats, I can’t recall a player getting a B1G or national award with any of the obvious stats.
October 4th, 2021 at 11:47 AM ^
One hell of a player.
And the good news for this defense is that it will continue on next year. Because, even though Hutch will be a high first round pick, MacGregor coming up behind him is going to hardly be a drop-off. MacGregor is almost as big as Aidan and he's faster and more violent.
October 4th, 2021 at 12:07 PM ^
Hell of an observation, Fred
October 4th, 2021 at 1:45 PM ^
Replacing Hutchinson, Ross, and Hill (I'm assuming he will jump to the NFL) is going to be difficult. There are some guys developing who should be adequate but Hutchinson and Hill are superstars and Ross just played his best game.
October 4th, 2021 at 11:50 AM ^
Aiden is so fun to watch and seems like the ultimate team guy, a true leader and captain.
Dax was a problem too. He made three huge plays and I’m sure he made several more that don’t show up on highlights or stat sheets.