Sports Illustrated - USA (2022-05)

Long expected to be picked at the top of

defender has been the TARGET OF DRAFT

back control of his story, one with plenty

Photograph by

Jeffery A. Salter

BY GREG

BISHOP

into the NFL combine—a reliable prospect but perhaps not

a spectacular one.

He was considered to have a higher f loor and lower ceiling

than some other players. Nobody was comparing him ath-

letically to freaks such as the Bosa brothers, Myles Garrett,

Jadeveon Clowney or Von Miller.

“You’re just going to have to get comfortable with the fact

that he’s talented but not crazy talented,” one NFL scout

says. “When you watch Joey or Nick Bosa move, Aidan just

can’t quite move like that.

“He’ll attack his weaknesses. He’s going to do exactly what

you tell him. There’s not a lot of guys in this draft better

than him. But you’re going to get what you get with him.”

Adds a second NFL scout: “There’s not too much risk with

him. Is it worth taking him at the top? I don’t know. When

you take an edge player in the top three, you’re probably

hoping for a 15-sack year. With Aidan, he might be more

of a 10-sack guy.

“He could be a Chris Long—people forget how good he was.

He had a very good career but not a Hall of Fame career.”

Then Hutchinson went into Indianapolis in March and

put up a strong athletic performance. Not every mea-

surement was ideal—the new knock is arm length, with

Hutchinson measuring a somewhat stubby 32^1 / 8 ". S ome

were concerned that he’s too tall after measuring 6' 7", thus

lacking the ability to get leverage underneath the punch

of bigger offensive tackles. And his 40-yard dash wasn’t

dazzling (4.74 seconds).

But his three-cone drill and 20-yard shuttle times were

the stuff of high-end skill players. What he might have

lacked in straight-line speed, Hutchinson made up for in

small-space quickness. That at least altered the narrative.

“People say he’s a motor guy, a hustle guy—there’s more to

him than that,” Chris Hutchinson says. “They don’t under-

stand how much of an athlete he is.”

While the athleticism debate simmers, Aidan touts another

element of his game as his best attribute—intuition coupled

with preparation. He is devoted to f ilm study and will absorb

a scouting report, but Aidan says he also has something

of a sixth sense about what is going to happen when the

ball is snapped.

“I think that’s what separates me,” he says. “I can see

what’s coming before the play goes; I can just feel it. That

makes you look so much better as a player. You look faster;

you look quicker.”

It’s not hard to find video of Hutchinson blowing up mis-

direction plays that are supposed to dupe defensive ends.

Waggles and bootlegs designed to inf luence him have ended

up in sacks, turnovers or forced throws. Whether that’s a

product of true intuition or diligent study of the opponent,

who knows—but maybe being a second-generation defensive

lineman with a dad who knows the game helps, too?

“Hundred percent,” Aidan Hutchinson says, smiling.

40 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

DRAFT PREVIEW

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