Aidan Hutchinson Can Play 'Tremendously Better'

Detroit's new defensive line coach has high hopes for the second-year rusher.

Aidan Hutchinson produced a strong rookie season, amid high expectations from the Detroit Lions. He totaled 9.5 sacks, and surprised many with three interceptions from his role on the defensive line. 

Now, his second season will carry tremendous weight, as he hopes to take the next step as a player. The Lions are hoping he can continue to evolve into a Pro Bowl-caliber EDGE rusher in 2023. 

As he exited the college ranks ahead of the 2022 NFL Draft, there were questions about how high his potential ceiling would be given his skill set. 

Hutchinson displayed plenty of growth throughout his rookie campaign, which has created optimism amongst his coaches. New defensive line coach John Scott Jr. has been impressed with what he's seen in his time coaching the young rusher. 

Now, Scott believes the 22-year-old has untapped potential moving into his second season. 

"I think the ceiling is as high as you want to be. I think the way that guy plays, you guys don't get to see it, but he's an excellent student in the classroom. He learned very, very well. He's very instinctive," Scott explained. "So, when you have a guy that is able to learn like that and add little, different nuggets to his game, and then the way he practices and competes, the way he plays on tape. I think the ceiling is whatever you want it to be." 

A big change for Hutchinson comes in his offseason training. Rather than spending his time preparing for showcases, such as the combine, he's allowed to focus on position and improvement-specific drills. 

This creates another opportunity for him to grow as a player, and add skills to his proverbial toolbox. He'll face opponents who have deeper scouting reports on him, so diversifying his talents will be important ahead of his second NFL season. 

"You can get tremendously better," Scott said. "It's funny, because all the guys say, 'This isn't that combine training.' The things that we're doing now are all position-specific things, but you can get a lot better. Going through the year that Aidan had last year, he did some great things well. There's always things that you can tweak and add to your game, to take it to the next level. Having the opportunity to see yourself on tape, doing it amongst the best and then analyzing things that you can improve upon, it's only going to make you have an even better year. It's just like any of you who played a sport know, you're always better at it the second time around, after you've been seasoned and had an opportunity to go through the little bumps and bruises of navigating through doing something for the first time."