Aidan Hutchinson in the running for NFL Rookie of the Year
Hutch is in the running for NFL rookie of the year along with KWIII, Chris Olave, and Sauce Gardener!
Not a huge NFL watcher but I've heard the most about Hutch and Gardener this year. But let's get those clicks going to block s[arty and THE born on third player
January 19th, 2023 at 9:09 AM ^
No disrespect to Hutchinson, who had a terrific first year and got better as the season went along, but Sauce has this on lockdown, just like opposing WRs.
January 19th, 2023 at 9:44 AM ^
Woolen had a better season than Sauce, hutch also had more interceptions than sauce at D line
January 19th, 2023 at 10:11 AM ^
PFF among others had Sauce as the best outside corner in the league not just rookies. He was special and will probably run away with the award.
January 19th, 2023 at 10:14 AM ^
Yup. Hutch had a great year for a rookie. Sauce had a great year for any NFL player. lol
January 19th, 2023 at 2:42 PM ^
To be fair, Hutch also had a great year for any NFL player. That said, Sauce will win this award and he deserves it.
January 19th, 2023 at 10:30 AM ^
Who looks at PFF still, wasnt Will Harris for the lions number 1 on lions even with these stats against him
Next analysis: CB Will Harris
PFF apparently labeled this man as the highest graded Lions corner this season. I’m stunned about that.
Opposing QBs completed 70.7% of their passes when targeting him. He allowed a passer rating of 107.1 when targeted and 3 TDs.
To say this man made me want to break my TV and laptop multiple times over is an understatement. When he was a safety, a majority of big throws involved this man being too late to contest or just blowing his assignment in general. He got a little better as a corner, but he allowed too many chunk plays and sometimes it cost this team games.
The only thing he can do well is hit hard. That’s it. And that’s just not good enough.
He shouldn’t be back. As stated before, Brad Holmes didn’t compliment the secondary much. And Will Harris needs to hit the road. The secondary needs serious upgrades.
January 19th, 2023 at 1:47 PM ^
That’s how bad the Lions secondary was. That he was rated the best says something. What’s that say about the other guys? Now you know why they need a major upgrade there this offseason.
January 19th, 2023 at 10:12 AM ^
All the analytics say that Sauce is the best corner in the NFL RIGHT NOW as a rookie. Hutch has been great, but if it's anyone but Sauce that's criminal.
January 19th, 2023 at 10:43 AM ^
Which stats cause I see some different ones. I don’t want to see PFF they are known to be a joke.
The only thing that’s been criminal is the bias for Sauce over Woolen
Woolen
11.4% target rate
52.5% comp allowed
48.0 passer rating allowed
6 ints 15 PD 3 FR
Sauce
15.2% target rate
53.1% comp allowed
61.2 passer rating allowed
2 INT 20 PD
January 19th, 2023 at 11:43 AM ^
Yeah but only one rookie accomplished a pretty-much-unbreakable NFL record...
Opposing staff members shoved:
Sauce: 0
Woolen: 0
Quay Walker: 2
January 19th, 2023 at 12:26 PM ^
Quay pushed one staff member. The other guy he pushed was a practice squad TE not on the active gameday roster.
January 19th, 2023 at 1:03 PM ^
an asterisk on that record then
January 19th, 2023 at 12:20 PM ^
Gardner led the NFL in pass breakups with 20 and only allowed 1 TD. He also allowed a TOTAL of 54 yards when in man coverage, which equates to 3.4 yards a game. A corner, who only allows 3.4 yards in man coverage...a game...that's unreal. To be fair, idk how often the Jets were in man coverage, even still, that's only one big play he allowed yardage-wise. Hutch was fantastic and when you compare his rookie year to those of the Bosa's and the Watt's he's certainly in their company. No question in my mind he's going to be an outstanding d-lineman for the Lions. Not much you can do for Def Rookie of the Year when your competition is arguably one of the best corners in the NFL already at a position that is notorious for being tough for rookies to adapt to.
January 19th, 2023 at 7:48 PM ^
If Woolen Deflected the ball instead of intercepting it he would have more PDs. Woolen has also given up only 1 td 😅
January 19th, 2023 at 12:56 PM ^
one of them is a first team all pro
January 19th, 2023 at 1:30 PM ^
Sauce was named first team all-pro, the first time a rookie has been granted that honor in 41 years. I'm guessing that also solidified the rookie of the year award.
January 19th, 2023 at 3:59 PM ^
I think you mean the first time in 41 years for a rookie cornerback? Micah Parsons was 1st team All Pro in 2021, Shaq Leonard a couple years before that, and many others have done it, just not CBs.
January 19th, 2023 at 3:13 PM ^
Hutch is a bust with t-Rex arms
- RCMB, Valenti
after 4 weeks of the season.
sparty lil bro mentality even extends to UM players once in the league. Their obsession and jealousy is psychotic.
January 19th, 2023 at 3:57 PM ^
Small hands... smells like cabbage
January 19th, 2023 at 4:58 PM ^
While statistically you are correct. It took about 2 quarters of the 1st game of the year for all opposing D-coordinators to realize...
Throw to anyone who Sauce is NOT guarding...
Hence his low interceptions. It is insane how opposing offense avoided him like the plague.
A little like how Hutch blew up the first couple of games and from then on every other D coordinator decided that it would be a really good idea to double team him on every snap.
Kudos to Aaron Glenn for being more creative with Hutch as the season went along and moving him around...
While Sauce will win the award, I do feel there is a bit of media market (ie he plays in New York) bias in play here. Too many slappy NY beat writers that can not possible look outside of their market to realize there are other players aside from their own team...
Don't get me wrong, HAD Jacksonville not screwed the pooch and actually took Hutch #1 like they should have. I was all for Holmes and Campbell to "reach" and take Sauce at #2 even though that would have been perceived as "too high".....
January 19th, 2023 at 5:29 PM ^
I do feel there is a bit of media market (ie he plays in New York) bias in play here
I think the Jets are the one NY team that the NYC media bias doesn't apply to
January 19th, 2023 at 7:45 PM ^
Qbs threw at Sauce more than woolen and he still had 6 picks.
January 19th, 2023 at 5:26 PM ^
Woolen was a First Team All Pro? I must have missed that
January 19th, 2023 at 11:26 AM ^
This feels like when 538 tried to predict the CFP playoffs. Anybody who actually understood the landscape knew how things would shake out depending on who won their championship games. Meanwhile, 538 was acting like it was a calculus problem.
I generally like 538's numbers approach, but that was bad.
Same thing here....yes, Hutch put up great numbers and would be a well deserving ROTY. But Sauce Gardner is going to win it. Period.
January 19th, 2023 at 4:13 PM ^
Yeah, he's not just the best rookie this year he's the best cornerback in the league. Trying really hard not to think about how Don Brown's 2018 and 2019 teams could have used a long cornerback from Detroit.
January 19th, 2023 at 9:10 AM ^
It should be noted that Hutchinson had more interceptions than Gardner
January 19th, 2023 at 9:21 AM ^
At a position that very rarely gets interceptions. 3 INT for a D lineman is almost unheard of.
January 19th, 2023 at 9:21 AM ^
that is absolutely insane. 3 pics.
January 19th, 2023 at 10:52 AM ^
Pics or it didn't happen
January 19th, 2023 at 11:04 AM ^
Where are the other 2 pics?
January 19th, 2023 at 9:27 AM ^
Also Hutch plays a position that is expected to disrupt on every play, Sauce can just be ignored and often doesn't do much on running plays.
But he plays in New York, so it's wrapped up.
January 19th, 2023 at 10:16 AM ^
He's being ignored because opposing QB's CAN'T throw to whoever he is covering. Completely erasing a target is HUGE. Hutch can be minimized/ignored too, but in a more damaging way to a defense. We saw it in his last game against Georgia.
January 19th, 2023 at 10:44 AM ^
Doubling Hutch increases the productivity and profile of the other DE, allowing him to make plays - OJABO. This happened with the Lions this year, particularly in late season games. Ignoring a DB doesn't have the same impact (doubling Hutch, always running to one side, etc.). It's tough to compare NCAA - the Georgia game - to the NFL.
January 19th, 2023 at 9:12 AM ^
Relatedly, one of my best friends is a MSU fanatic. He boldly proclaimed that Hutchinson would be a bust before the season began. I received a delicious text last weekend where he (a) admitted on his own volition that he thought Hutch would be a bust and (b) subsequently admitted that he was wrong.
Gardner will likely win the award, but Hutch showed that he more than belongs in the NFL. The future is bright.
January 19th, 2023 at 9:26 AM ^
My MSU rooting friends all are saying the same;
Draft Day 1 - "Hate the pick"...... "He is going to be a bust"
Midway though the season - "He's alright"
Now - "Have to admit, I was wrong on him"
lol, at least they are admitting their flaws!
January 19th, 2023 at 9:40 AM ^
“He has short arms!” Once the combine measurements came out, this was the Sparty battle cry.
January 19th, 2023 at 9:54 AM ^
History shows that things with short arms are usually quite imposing and have dominated over others. Aidan has shown that he can dominate. Nuff said.
January 19th, 2023 at 11:53 AM ^
....what about small hands?
January 19th, 2023 at 9:49 AM ^
Both of my brothers are die hard MSU fans. Both are die hard Lions fans. Both were upset when Hutch was the #2 pick. Both admitted late in the season that they were wrong. I suspect, but they won't admit, that if Hutch had played anywhere but UM they would have been thrilled with the pick.
January 19th, 2023 at 11:42 AM ^
Are they little brothers?
.
.
.
Nevertheless, it never ceases to amaze me that sparty bases their entire self worth upon tearing down scUM instead of celebrating their own accomplishments.
January 19th, 2023 at 6:02 PM ^
Your lucky, I have 2 echo chamber Sparties that still insist he is overrated. That he only piled up his stats in a few games and "disappeared" in the other 12-14 games....
I just rolled my eyes and shook my head....
January 19th, 2023 at 9:16 AM ^
Sauce should be an absolute lock for this award.
January 19th, 2023 at 9:16 AM ^
I predicted he would get 10 sacks. I am such an idiot and homer.
January 19th, 2023 at 9:29 AM ^
By many accounts he had 11+, but NFL sack scoring is wonky.
January 19th, 2023 at 9:21 AM ^
In comparison to his other Top-5 Edge peers, he was far and away the best. Better than both Walker and Thibedeaux.
My dad who still listens to 97.1 reliably informed me though that it was repeatedly stated on there Thibedeaux was basically an astrophysicist who was too smart and too big of a brand for Detroit. He was going to take the NFL, the crypto and business world, and his own brand by storm, and Hutch would just be this local guy who puts up okay numbers but isn’t the “mind and brand” that Thibedeaux will be.
I have to say though, I have seen more Hutch Lions jerseys than any player in over a decade and that includes Stafford so I’d say he’s doing alright
January 19th, 2023 at 9:39 AM ^
I have to say though, I have seen more Hutch Lions jerseys than any player in over a decade and that includes Stafford so I’d say he’s doing alright
That's all very well and good, but can you please provide a comparative analysis for hotcake sales in that same time period?
January 19th, 2023 at 9:46 AM ^
Also, how are his jerseys selling in Ohio?
January 19th, 2023 at 9:46 AM ^
The only thing I know about Thibodeaux's rookie season was him claiming he had no idea who Jeff Saturday was, when told that Saturday had criticized him for doing snow angels after sacking Nick Foles, who was writhing on the ground in pain a few feet away.
Now granted, Kayvon is still playing this season, but methinks we made the right choice with Hutch.
January 19th, 2023 at 10:41 AM ^
Fair response by Kayvon.
Most of us forgot about Jeff Saturday after Peyton left Indy. Kayvon was probably a young child youth back then
January 19th, 2023 at 11:56 AM ^
I mean he was on ESPN every single week....but I get it hes a lineman