Coming into the 2026 season, there were high hopes for the Detroit Lions and their defensive line, and specifically Aidan Hutchinson.
Hutchinson, despite bursting onto the scene in the last few years, has yet to claim any personal hardware for all of his efforts in terms of defensive MVP awards. It's safe to say he's had it on his goal list for a while, and he was looking forward to having the kind of year where he could be in the conversation.
So far, that hasn't worked out completely for Hutchinson and the Lions, even though he has been quietly fantastic outside of some middle-of-the-pack statistics. Entering the season, many believed Hutchinson had the goods to be the Defensive Player of the Year winner. ESPN analyst Seth Walder had that as his bold prediction for the year.
At this point, Walder isn't ready to call the projection a wash. He admitted in a new piece that there's still a chance for Hutchinson to claim the award, but only if he starts to pile up the stats and the rest of a weak defense starts to play up to their potential.
"Four sacks and a 66th percentile pass rush win rate at edge isn't a bad start, but he's going to have to pick it up to fulfill this prediction. He has the talent level to do it, but the fact that the rest of the Lions' defense is looking so weak is going to hurt Hutchinson's sack total, which in turn will hurt his DPOY chances."
In Week 5, the Lions' defense showed the type of games they can have to get Hutchinson over the finish line. Detroit had a series of five stops in the first half after the Arizona Cardinals scored on their first drive, and had a dominating day up front. That's the kind of energy they will need in the second half of the season.
Aidan Hutchinson believes he is benefitting from DJ Wonnum's emergence
More than Hutchinson claiming any personal hardware, team goals take precedence. Even if he doesn't win the Defensive Player of the Year award, he would still be satisfied if the Lions have a great season and do plenty of divisional and playoff winning.
Thus far, the Lions have seen Wonnum burst onto the scene in a big way. He currently leads the Detroit pass rush with five sacks, just ahead of Hutchinson, which has been a surprise. It's not shocking to Hutchinson, however, considering how he has stepped up in a short time.
As Hutchinson told 97.1's "Karsch and Anderson," he loves what Wonnum has brought to the mix and believes that the two are playing well off of each other. Despite that, he didn't want to rank him against his other running mates of the past.
"I can't compare because that would do my other teammates like Al-Quadin (Muhammad) last year dirty, because Al-Quadin is a different player. DJ (Wonnum's) gotten off to such a great start. Taking advantage of those one-on-ones is what he's doing. I love it. It's great because if I get more attention and he starts winning his one-on-ones, teams look at that and go, 'Maybe we don't send the slide here every time. Maybe we've got to switch it up.' This to me is a win-win. I'm so happy for him and we just got to keep rushing like that. Keep it up. Keep playing fast."
Having a solid one-two punch along the defensive line would be great news for the Lions, no matter what it does to the hopes of Hutchinson taking home honors.
The hope is that by the end of the season, Hutchinson and Wonnum are both terrorizing the pocket as consistently as they have early on, and the Lions are winning big games.
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