Aidan Hutchinson is going to be the entire focus of the Detroit Lions' offseason practices and training camps, as his health is paramount to everything they're trying to do in 2025. Without their top pass rusher, and top defender, they will struggle. We saw evidence of that in 2024 and in their postseason.
So, updates on Hutchinson are always going to be welcomed by Lions fans clamoring for information on how the pass rusher is progressing in his return to NFL action. On Friday, head coach Dan Campbell managed to deliver some really positive notes about Hutchinson's work thus far in OTAs for the team.
“Hutch looks good. He’s moving well. You don’t see him favoring anything … He looks confident. Again, that’s without pads. There’s nothing to tell me that he’s not recovered.”
Hearing that he's moving without any hesitation or evidence of any lingering issues in his broken leg is an amazing sign as the Lions' defense looks to practice nearly 100% healthily for the first time in a long time.
Hutchinson's health is good news after Lions avoided adding another pass rusher
The Lions drafted Ahmed Hassanein this year and are getting back a healthy Marcus Davenport to add to their pass rush defense, but those two are a bit of a toss up in terms of health (Davenport) and experience (Hassanein). While both seem to look ready for NFL action, actual games are a different beast.
It would've been nice for Detroit to go out and get legitimate insurance for Hutchinson this offseason, but if he's moving as well as Campbell is describing in OTAs, then maybe there's no need to worry about adding a reliable backup to Hutchinson on the depth chart.
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Davenport is also a perfectly solid option for the Lions to support Hutchinson. The veteran is due for a bounce back season after only playing two games in 2024 due to injury. His last season where he played more than 10 games was back in 2022, and in 2021, he posted nine sacks for the New Orleans Saints.
Hutchinson had told reporters prior to OTAs starting up that he was motivated to get back on the field with his "boys" on defense, and that dealing with his injury was one of the worst periods of his life. He's clearly ready to bounce back strongly for Detroit, who are hoping they can lean on him to produce at the same level he was prior to going down last year.
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