Despite injury, Aidan Hutchinson finds himself inside PFF's top five edge rushers

Aidan Hutchinson has been the topic of conversation around Lions circles as of late, with his announcement that he is fully ready to go for training camp.

Hutch is an integral part of this Lions defense, and if he can't get even close to the level he was playing at before his injury last season, the Lions front line may be in trouble.

While there are skeptics, of course, many fans and analysts expect the now 24-year-old edge rusher to recover from his horrific injury and get back to the trajectory he was on prior to the Week 6 contest in Dallas.

PFF ranks Hutchinson amongst the best edge rushers in the NFL

Ryan Smith of PFF published an article ranking the top 32 edge rushers going into the 2025 season. As expected, Hutchinson found himself very high on this list, but the ranking did shock me a bit.

Breaking your tibia and fibula is a very serious injury, and there's a reason for fans to be concerned about the potential of Hutchinson not being the same when he returns. However, PFF did not seem to be too concerned about Hutchinson's future after the injury.

Despite concerns of his imminent return, Hutchinson found himself ranked No. 5 among all edge rushers in the NFL. Hutchinson's heroics in the first month of the 2024 season were too much to overlook for PFF.

"The Pro Bowl edge defender was in a league of his own, recording 72 pass-rush wins, the most ever by a defensive player in the PFF era through the first six weeks of a season," said Smith. "Remarkably, he accomplished the feat in just five games, as Detroit had a bye in Week 5."

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The former No. 2 overall pick was on an absolute tear, making his injury significantly more unfortunate for Detroit. At that pace, Hutchinson would have run away with the defensive player of the year, being the first Lion to ever win the award.

According to many sportsbooks, Hutchinson currently sits as the favorite to win the defensive player of the year award, and PFF seems to agree with the oddsmakers.

"Heading into this season, Hutchinson will be a popular Defensive Player of the Year candidate for the division-favorite Detroit Lions," said Smith.

The only reason I was shocked by Hutchinson's ranking is that I expected his injury to bump him down a few slots on this list. I expected the two guys ranked below him, Crosby and Hendrickson, to be above him due to injury concerns.

The four guys ranked above him, Garrett, Parsons, Watt, and Bosa, are all fairly deserving of their spots. Although Hutchinson was blowing them out of the water in the first five weeks of the season, these guys have multiple great statistical full seasons, and Hutchinson hasn't reached that just yet.

For the record, although I was shocked by PFF ignoring the Hutchinson injury, I also think that Hutch will come back and be a force in 2025. Despite a very serious injury, he is just 24 years old and looks healthier and healthier in each video.

There's a reason the Vikings and Bears built up their offensive lines this offseason: 97 in Honolulu Blue is coming, and there's nothing they can do about it.

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