Aidan Hutchinson came back in 2025 and picked up right where he left off. Now the Lions edge rusher is lined up for something even bigger in 2026.
Detroit has never had a player win Defensive Player of the Year in the AP News or Pro Football Writers of America version of the award. Kerby Joseph did take home the 101 Awards version in 2024, but that’s been the exception rather than the rule for this franchise. Hutchinson is trying to change that conversation, and he enters 2026 as one of the early favorites.
Myles Garrett is still the name most often sitting at the top of the betting board, and that makes sense. The Los Angeles Rams edge rusher has already won the award twice, and Aaron Donald is back in the mix as a returning multi-time DPOY winner. Hutchinson is not far behind, though, and the case for him is pretty straightforward.
Start with the biggest one: he’s healthy.
A year ago, Hutchinson was working his way back after missing most of the 2024 season with a broken leg. This time around, he’s coming off a full 17-game season.
That matters. Even when a player is productive right away, there’s still a difference between playing through a comeback year and entering a season with a normal offseason, normal camp, and no lingering recovery timeline hanging over everything.
Hutchinson made that 2025 return look easy anyway. He finished with 14.5 sacks and landed a top-five DPOY finish, all after spending most of the previous year sidelined. Now he gets the benefit of a complete offseason to keep building instead of just getting back to baseline.
Detroit’s pass rush also looks better around him.
The Lions didn’t go out and make a splashy move for an elite edge partner, but they did get production from other places in the preseason. D.J.
Wonnum, Ahmed Hassanein, and rookie Derrick Moore each had at least one sack, combining for four. Wonnum and Hassanein both got home on the opposing team’s first drive of the game with starters, including quarterbacks, still on the field.
Hutchinson hasn’t yet played a game with any of those three opposite him, but the early signs are encouraging.
There’s promise inside, too. Alim McNeill is back after tearing his ACL late in the 2024 season, and like Hutchinson, he’s had a full offseason to get back to speed after a slower return in 2025.
McNeill is expected to push back toward the All-Pro level he showed in 2024. Tyleik Williams is no longer a rookie, and rookie Skyler Gill-Howard has been described as a bullet train in the preseason.
Put that together, and Detroit may be giving Hutchinson his best supporting cast yet up front.
Then there’s the simplest argument of all: he’s still getting better.
Hutchinson just turned 26, which means he’s still young enough to have more room to grow. Nobody knows exactly what his peak will look like, or when he’ll hit it, but it’s hard to look at where he is now and not think another jump is coming. He already posted a 91.7 grade on Pro Football Focus last season despite missing most of 2024, so the gap between where he was in 2025 and where he needs to be for a DPOY run does not look especially wide.
Detroit opens the season against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, September 13th, and that’s where Hutchinson’s latest push begins.
In Other News...
Lions Get A Brutal O-Line Warning Before Jared Goff's Season Begins
PFFs latest 2026 offensive line rankings offered a sobering reminder that even a roster built to win up front can feel fragile once injuries enter the picture. The Lions came in at No. 19, a mark that lands well below the expectation around a group that has usually been one of the team's biggest strengths and, in this case, slipped largely because of the injury to starting center Cade Mays.
The drop from 13th to just inside the top 20 is the kind of warning sign Detroit cannot ignore with Jared Goffs season approaching. Analyst Gordon McGuinness pointed to the lines current composition as the concern, and for a team that has leaned on protection and continuity to keep its offense on schedule, the question now is whether the group can hold up long enough to avoid becoming a problem before the games even start. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Rookie Debate Is Already Centered On One Crucial Position Battle
The Lions rookie conversation for 2026 is already narrowing around a familiar kind of debate, the one that starts with role and ends with impact. Derrick Moore and Blake Miller are the names drawing the most attention, and for good reason: staff predictions are weighing how each players draft slot, preseason work and positional value could shape his first season in Detroit. It is less about raw talent in the abstract and more about which rookie is positioned to matter most when the games begin to count.
Moore and Miller also represent the kind of choice that can tell you a lot about how a team views its future. One path points to an edge of the defense where disruption can show up quickly, while the other comes through a position battle where reliability and early trust often matter just as much as upside. For now, the discussion is still speculative, but the Lions already have a rookie race worth tracking closely because the answer may say something important about where the roster is headed next. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Suddenly Have A Week 1 Depth Concern Fans Should Watch
The Lions got through Thursdays practice with a fairly routine injury report as they turn their attention to the Saints, but there was still a little uncertainty attached to the week. Several players were full participants, while Derrick Moore, Mekhi Wingo and Christian Izien were limited as the team continued sorting through a few lingering health issues ahead of game planning.
Dan Campbell offered a cautious read on where things stand, and the overall tone sounded more hopeful than alarmed. Even so, any limited practice reps this late in the week are worth watching for a Detroit roster trying to get everyone lined up before Week 1, especially with a matchup against New Orleans approaching fast. [Read more 🡒]