The Lions drafted Aidan Hutchinson at No. 2 overall last month, setting him up to be one of the team’s primary edge rushers for years to come.
Head coach Dan Campbell was asked about the rookie’s progress over the last few weeks on Thursday. Campbell said that while Hutchinson is “swimming” a bit as all rookies do, the edge rusher has been “all business.”
“His approach is everything we thought it would be,” Campbell said during his press conference. “He’s in the meeting rooms, he’s attentive, he’s wanting to learn, he’s taking it all in, he’s doing what’s asked of him. And then it’s trial by fire, like the rest of them.”
Campbell noted that a significant part of Hutchinson’s development as a first-year player will come from going against offensive tackles like Taylor Decker and last year’s seventh overall pick Penei Sewell.
“I think that’s huge,” Campbell said. “I think that’ll play more into his development than a lot of other things. So, I feel like he’s going to be going against quality tackles so that in and of itself is, I think, can [accelerate] his progression.”
Campbell also said that while Hutchinson possesses the kind of strength to be successful as a rookie, he also has plenty of room for growth.
“There’s still a ton of meat on the bone with him. That’s pretty exciting,” Campbell said. “So, you can never tell for sure, but I would say this — it’s one of the reasons why we wanted to pick this guy, is his DNA says he’s going to do everything that he can to be successful. And he’s got enough ability and enough strength, he certainly does, to go out there and help us and help us win some games.
“Now, when will that be? How fast will that be? I don’t know. I know this, we’re not going to put him out there until he’s ready. He’s going to have to show it to us. But we’ll see how it goes. Again, we’re Day Two into OTAs.”
