Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson wins Defensive Rookie of the Month again

Aidan Hutchinson won Defensive Rookie of the Month in November, and he nicely made it twice in December/January.

Propelled by winning NFC Defensive Player of the Week once and intercepting two passes over the course of the month, Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month in November.

Hutchinson capped his rookie season with two sacks of Aaron Rodgers in Week 18, and from the start of December through the end of the season he had four sacks, 21 total tackles, five tackles for loss, an interception and a fumble recovery.

On Thursday, Hutchinson was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for December/January. According to Lions’ PR, he is the first player in franchise history to win multiple Rookie of the Month awards. Doing it back-to-back months is surely a unique feat too, in league history.

Hutchinson is one of three Lions to ever win Defensive Rookie of the Month, joining Ndamukong Suh (2010) and Louis Delmas (2009).

Aidan Hutchinson making run at Defensive Rookie of the Year

Hutchinson led the Lions, and all NFL rookies, with 9.5 sacks this season. His three interceptions made him the first rookie in NFL history with a nine-plus sack, three interception season.

Beyond his production, which became more consistent as the season went on, Hutchinson became everything the Lions envisioned he’d be right away as a rookie. He played 958 snaps, behind only Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby among all NFL defensive linemanan this season and less than only DeForest Buckner among rookie defensive lineman ever.

Via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, head coach Dan Campbell talked about Hutchinson last week with the obvious way he’d go if he had a vote for Defensive Rookie of the Year.

"I mean, this guy’s a football player and with the No. 2 pick in the draft, we got a freaking — we got a football playing dude, man, who’s high motor and he’s versatile as hell,” Campbell said. “So I don’t know what that is. If you’re asking me to cast a vote, yeah, I would cast a vote, but I don’t know all the ins and outs of everybody else, but for our value, absolutely.”"

Jets cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner has been the prevalent favorite for Defensive Rookie of the Year, and he’s definitely worthy with a league-leading 20 pass breakups despite immediately becoming a shut down corner teams avoided throwing at.

But Hutchinson’s momentum toward winning Defensive Rookie of the Year, off back-to-back Rookie of the Months, is undeniable and it might just get it done. If he wins, he’d become the fourth Lion to do so–joining Suh in 2010, Al Baker in 1978 and Hall of Famer Lem Barney in 1967.