Aidan Hutchinson is one of the best young edge rushers in the NFL. Where he is the general pecking order of the league's top edge rushers is subject to some level of debate. At minimum, he has generally outdone the "higher upside" edge rushers who were also taken early in the 2022 draft (Travon Walker, Kayvon Thibodeaux) through two seasons.
ESPN continued to roll out their position rankings based on a survey of NFL league executives, scouts and coaches with edge rushers on Wednesday (subscription required). It's an attempt to rank the best players for this year, without thought to the future or prior career achievements.
Hutchinson landed at No. 6 in the ranking, joining Jahmyr Gibbs as a Lions' player who has landed in the top-10 at his position in ESPN's rankings. Myles Garrett, T.J. Watt, Micah Parsons, Nick Bosa and Maxx Crosby are 1-5, ahead of Hutchinson.
Hutchinson had the widest variation in the top-10, with one of ESPN's survey participants not ranking him. while another ranked him No. 3.
Jeremy Fowler called Hutchinson the "face" of the Lions' defense after the step he took last year.
"Detroit now has a face of the defense after Hutchinson produced 11.5 sacks, 33 quarterback hits, seven passes defended and three forced fumbles in 2023."
Aidan Hutchinson gets lofty comparison from scouting director
An anonymous NFL scouting director was quoted with an evaluation of Hutchinson.
"High ceiling. He will be the next Nick Bosa," an NFL scouting director said. "Banking on him getting even better. Highly disruptive, physical, near rare motor."
Bosa landed at No. 4 in ESPN's edge rusher rankings this year, down from No. 1 a year ago. He has registered 115 quarterback hits over the last three seasons, and he had 18.5 sacks when he won Defensive Player of the Year in 2022. The deeper numbers (pressures, quarterback hits) don't really support his drop 10.5 sacks last year, which is very similar to Hutchinson's deeper metrics not quite translating to his sack total.
Hutchinson obviously doesn't quite have Bosa's career resume, but if he adds a Defensive Player of the Year award sometime in the next couple years their resumes to the same point in their careers could be remarkably similar. The parallel in playing styles certainly makes the comparison fit in regard to Hutchinson.