Hello, fan of an NFL team. MGoBlog excruciatingly scouts every Michigan play, and scores them to inform our coverage. Since mi atleta es su atleta now, here we share what we're sharing.

Quickly: The best player in the draft by college production. Highest floor in the draft, might not be JJ Watt.

Draft Projection: 1st or 2nd overall pick in a draft without any franchise quarterbacks seems about right. Teams picking there can't afford to mess that pick up, and Hutch is about as good a guarantee of that as you're going to get. I'd expect him to end up ~20th player in his draft class not the 1st, but if you actually know who the top five are going to be you should be in stocks.

NFL Comp: Nick Bosa or TJ Watt. Great measurements, spectacular college production that should translate to instant very good NFL DE, but not one of the freaks, unless he's JJ Watt.

What's his story? High-ish 4-star son of a 1990s All-American tackle (DE) in 2018. First inkling we had something was when our guys's senior high school scout revealed he was more than athletic enough to stay at WDE with a frame that's often on thr DT/DE line. Became a regular opposite Kwity Paye in 2019, first big play rescued a near upset at the hands of Army. Dominated Iowa. Played just 2 games in 2020, asked to 2-gap inside from DE spot to cover for DT deficiencies, unblockable vs MSU, then injured. Returned for senior season, moved out to DE/OLB in new defense, and was the best player in the country.

Positives: Gamebreaker. Ideal size and length for defensive end. Surprising speed, insane strength, uncanny motor. Cerebral, uncanny preparation. Array of pass-rush moves, favoring a vicious club and push-style outside moves, plus an advanced counter inside move. Shows up in the biggest games/moments. Superior run defender. Superior teammate. Generational player; it would be an upset if he's not in the NFL Hall of Fame eventually.

Negatives: Injured in 2020 but came back with no after-effects. If you were in position to draft him your franchise has been completely devastated from choosing the worst person in football to be your head coach recently, or you're the Detroit Lions.

What others say: Pro Football Focus thought he was unreal; they say he had the 2nd highest edge rush grade (92.4) in P5 history, led the Big Ten in run stops, led all FBS edges on all three downs and put up the 3rd highest grade by a defender since 2014, doing so with remarkable consistency.

Aidan Hutchinson led P5 Edges in Pass Rush Grade (93.4) AND Run Defense Grade (90.8)

The only other Edge Defender to do that since 2014: Nick Bosa (2017)pic.twitter.com/HI6JMgd21E

— PFF Draft (@PFF_College) March 25, 2022

Following the Ohio State game they had him as their pick for the Heisman. The NFL combine results, where he finished 2nd overall to ND's Kyle Hamilton, raised Hutchinson from likely 2nd overall pick to the consensus #1. He was also #2 overall on Bruce Feldman's freaks list last year, one spot above Hamilton and one behind Bama LT Evan Neal. On the other end, Ian Cummings has his doubts about Hutchinson's ceiling:

My evaluation of Hutchinson has been a roller coaster, quite frankly. I wasn’t a huge fan and saw him more as a Day 2 prospect over the summer. Then the 2021 season happened, and the hype took over. Some elements of his game popped over that span, most notably his red-hot motor, violent hands, lateral agility, and speed-to-power conversion.

However, rewatching the 2021 tape unearthed some concerns that may have been lost in the midseason hype. Hutchinson has above-average explosiveness off the line, but he’s not elite like his teammate Ojabo. His upright style further erodes that explosiveness. He often plays with his pads too high. With a high pad level, he can’t always launch out of his stance at full speed, and he can’t attain superior leverage and attack the torso consistently.

Our Scheme/Best Scheme: Any. Michigan used him as a B-gap quasi-tackle before his injury in 2020 to cover DT deficiencies, then moved him out to a wide-7 end with the occasional dropback as a senior. Best fit would be as an either-side end in a 4-3 system, where his pass rush is a constant threat and he can occasionally wreck things inside if asked to.

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2021 Grading by Play Type

The following numbers are based on my 2021 charting in Upon Further Review. One point is roughly equivalent to an action that affected the play by 5 yards, i.e. zero points are awarded for simply filling an assignment. Certain scores require context, e.g. defensive linemen are expected to score 2 to 1 to the positive because of their greater opportunities to make plays, and rarely get negative individual grades when pass-rushing, since those are handed out through a team metric. Team defense charting.

Versus Play Type:	+	-	Total
Inside Zone	22	5	+17
Power	17	5	+12
Stretch	11	0	+11
Other Run	18	2	+16
Screens	11	1	+10
Pass Deep	57	1	+56
Pass Short	60	5	+55
PA Pass	14	4	+10

Hutchinson scored a +40.5/-1 (+39.5 total) against Ohio State, which is the highest score in UFR history (dating back to 2007).

Michigan opponents rarely attempted multiple throw reads against Michigan last year, despite weaknesses at some of the defensive back positions, because no pass protection could survive that long against Hutchinson and his edge mate David Ojabo.

Career Grading:

2018 Opponent	Pos	+	-	Total	Snaps	Notes
Notre Dame	End	0.5	1	+0.5	n/a	Looked promising for down the road.
WMU	End	3	4	+1.0	n/a	Buried once.
SMU	End	0.5	0	+0.5	n/a	PT hard to come by.
Nebraska	End	8	1	+7.0	n/a	About half of this real late. Still.
Northwestern	End	0	0	0.0	n/a	One snap.
Maryland	End	4.5	2	+2.5	n/a	Impressive rip move.
Wisconsin	End	0	0	0.0	n/a	DNC
Michigan State	End	0	0	0.0	n/a	DNC
Indiana	End	0	2	+2.0	n/a	Culprit on the one successful second half Scott run.
2019 Opponent	Pos	+	-	Total	Snaps	Notes
MTSU	End	9.5	0.5	+9.0	63	Rip down on QB draw impressive.
Army	End	13.5	5	+8.5	60	Massive second OT.
Wisconsin	End	5.5	5.5	0.0	69	Retained his dignity.
Rutgers	End	1	2	+1.0	20	Nonfactor.
Iowa	End	11	1	+10.0	76	Major day, got Wirfs once.
Illinois	End	13.5	4	+9.5	76	Main driver of fumble #2, other near solo TFL, consistent.
Penn State	End	9.5	1	+8.5	55	Was in many places at once.
Notre Dame	End	9.5	0	+9.5	47	Screen killer.
Maryland	End	7	2	+5.0	52	See Paye. Not elite talents but B+ guys who never mess up.
Michigan State	End	13	0	+13.0	44	Paye clone. Or is Paye the clone?
Indiana	End	9	0	+9.0	59	No minus lifestyle
2020 Opponent	Pos	+	-	Total	Snaps	Notes
Minnesota	SDE	27	5	+22.0	72	AA
Michigan State	SDE	19	4	+15.0	79	Pressure can't get there on instant throws
Indiana	SDE	2		+2.0	6	RIP
2021 Opponent	Pos	+	-	Total	Snaps	Notes
Western Michigan	OLB	23	1	+22	38	Did this on like 30 snaps. WMU just overmatched.
Washington	OLB	16.5	2	+14.5	54	No friggin way this equals that?
Northern Illinois	OLB	10	1	+9	25	In ~20 snaps while NIU was trying to avoid him.
Rutgers	OLB	24	1	+23	66	5th overall pick? Sure. Didn't come off the field in the 2nd half.
Wisconsin	OLB	25	2	+23	38	Gonna go out on a limb and say we missed him last year.
Nebraska	OLB	30.5	3.5	+27	59	PFF's DPotW again so I'm not crazy.
Northwestern	OLB	17	2	+15	73	The usual.
Michigan State	OLB	29	7.5	+21.5	43	Had to do a lot more LB things. Big mitts in passing lanes.
Indiana	OLB	27	5	+22	57	The usual plus a lot of coverage grades.
Penn State	OLB	22	5	+17	80	Had PSU's snaps timed.
Maryland	OLB	25	1	+24	63	Oh wait, that's just McGregor! —Me when when a play wasn't wrecked and I thought it was Hutchinson for a hot second.
Ohio State	OLB	40.5	1	+39.5	76	The most outstanding player in college football.
Iowa	OLB	19	1	+18	65	Iowa surrendered their entire offense to avoid this.
Georgia	OLB	15	4.5	+10.5	56	UGA's gameplan avoided him entirely.

Video of All Varieties: (Collection)

Coordinated pass rush moves:

Inside Move:

Length/hands use:

Power rush:

Defeating double-teams:

Controlled pass rush vs play-action:

Bend:

Motor:

Strength/Bull Rush:

Athleticism:

Cerebral. Studies opponents, recognizes patterns and goes off script to create plays.

Defending option:

Interior pass-rusher:

Zone run defender/length and strength:

Defending the flat as an OLB:

Contain opposite stunts:

Defensive line captain:

You probably saw this already but just in case:

Summary and Projection: Michigan has had some rampant defensive ends—Chase Winovich recently, LaMarr Woodley and Brandon Graham historically—come through program in the MGoBlog era, but none had a season like Hutchinson just put together. In opponent grading we scouted multiple games by Chase Young and the Bosas, and Aidan ranks with those three for the best ends we've ever seen. Hutchinson should immediately add to any team's rush, and progress to one of the best ends in the country after a few years to get used to the NFL. The adjustment to schemes is all--Hutchinson has already faced and demolished many well regarded offensive tackles, including a dominant performance in 2019 against Tristan Wirfs.