Lions Ahmed Hassanein: I Choose to Be the Hammer

While Hassanein, much like any rookie, has areas to grow, one trait he certainly does not lack is intensity. He's been observed and heard expressing emotion at various points throughout the team's first five practices, and that's not expected to change.

This fits the Lions like a glove. The added layer of intensity can take his game to another level, and is something the coaching staff has already grown to appreciate.

In fact, coach Dan Campbell hinted that the team may even ask him to dial back the intensity during walkthroughs due to just how strongly he approaches them.

“He’s a guy that it means something to. He’s got a lot of intensity to him, he wants to learn, he’s an open book right now, he wants to know it all, he’s like a sponge," Campbell said. "He’s taking it all in, and tries to do exactly what you tell him to do and he’s high motor. He goes all out, it doesn’t matter what the drill is. And so I think the trick there is in walkthroughs, backing him down just a tick but I like him, we like him. I mean, he’s wired right. It’s one of the reasons we drafted him. There’s something to work with here, we’ll see how fast he can develop.”

Friday's first day of pads added some excitement to Hassanein's day-to-day operation. While he enjoys simply being on the field, donning the pads for the first time as a pro elevated his approach.

In fact, the Boise State product admitted he'd rather be in pads because of the added physicality that comes with playing the sport.

"My mentality, there's no difference, I'm gonna go 100 percent every play. But I'd rather be in pads," Hassanein said. "It's protected more and you can be more violent and attack and I can take care of my teammates, too. I'm just excited, I'm really excited to learn and grow and take it one day at a time. At the end of the day, it's being dominant and going at it."