Could Aidan Hutchinson Be The Number One Pick in the 2022 NFL Draft?
Aidan Hutchinson has produced when it has mattered most all season for Michigan. Is it possible he’s the top pick in the 2022 NFL Draft?
The Michigan Wolverines finally got the monkey off of Jim Harbaugh’s back, winning over the Ohio State Buckeyes for the first time in his tenure. Much of that victory can be attributed to a strong running game and dominating from the jump, but the edge rusher duo of Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo feasted on the Buckeyes tackle duo.
Hutchinson had three sacks on the day, bringing his total to 13 for the season. His incredible season has been about making big plays in big moments and games all season long. Hutchinson had 2.5 sacks against Washington in prime time earlier in the season, drew a ton of holding calls against Michigan State, and had three more sacks against Penn State two weeks prior to this weekend.
Hutchinson’s combination of athleticism and production has produced a dominant season worthy of going to New York for the Heisman ceremony. However, it brings up another question. Could Hutchinson actually go first overall in the 2022 NFL Draft, ahead of Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux?
As much as the body of work should be taken into account over the past few seasons, most teams will be watching (mostly) 2021 film in their NFL Draft preparation. When they do, they’ll see Hutchinson wreak havoc from the first snap. He’s buried the draft stock of several tackles on his journey (Jaxson Kirkland, Rasheed Walker, even Nicholas Petit-Frere to a degree) and proved that there’s little that teams could do when blocking him one-on-one. His combination of quickness, hand usage, counters, and motor make you compete until the very end of every rep.
Obviously, this hypothesis isn’t taking away how dominant Thibodeaux is when he’s healthy. When he returned from his early season injury, the Cal Bears had no answer for Thibodeaux. He’s a dominant run defender with great traits as a rusher.
But, the NFL is anything but a consensus-driven machine. There will be teams who believe Aidan Hutchinson is the better 2022 NFL Draft prospect, which is fair considering how narrow the gap has become between the two. If recency bias prevails, there’s no reason to believe a team like the Lions or Texans wouldn’t, at the very least, consider him for the first overall pick. A month ago, it looked like a consensus. As Hutchinson has built his resume, that has faded into uncertainty. Don’t rule out the possibility Hutchinson goes off the board first when the draft rolls around.