As training camps approach for the 2024 NFL season, the anticipation and excitement continue to swell each and every day thanks to the previews and rankings from various outlets.
On Wednesday, ESPN continued their series of ranking the top-10 players at each position, this time taking a look at the league’s best edge rushers (ESPN+ subscription required). A quick recap if you haven’t had a chance to check these out yet this week: a panel of league executives, coaches, and scouts participated in the selection process to determine the best players at each position for the upcoming season. Their rankings are based on current performance rather than long-term projections or career achievements, focusing on identifying the top players in 2024.
After seeing fellow defensive linemen Alim McNeill and DJ Reader snubbed from even a mention in yesterday’s look at the top-10 defensive tackles, Aidan Hutchinson checks in at No. 6 among the top edge rushers in the league.
“High ceiling. He will be the next Nick Bosa,” an NFL scouting director told ESPN. “Banking on him getting even better. Highly disruptive, physical, near rare motor.”
Interesting to note that the NFL scouting director quoted in the ESPN piece described Hutchinson as having a “high ceiling” and predicted that he “will” be the next Nick Bosa—who ranked fourth on this year’s list—when many have questioned Hutchinson’s potential since the pre-draft process. Travon Walker and Kayvon Thibodeaux, the other edge rushers at the top of the 2022 class who were touted to be more physically gifted than Hutchinson in terms of bend and athleticism, were both mentioned as receiving votes in the ESPN rankings.
There was no player on the list with a greater variance in their league-wide perception than Hutchinson, however, with the edge defender being ranked as high as No. 3, but completely unranked by others. But after being an honorable mention last year, Hutchinson made the biggest leap of anyone kept off of last year’s list.
Hutchinson, the former No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, had a breakout season after finishing second in pressures (101), t-12th in sacks (11.5), and t-third in quarterback hits (33) among all defenders during his second year with the Lions.
The “face of the defense” according to Jeremy Fowler, Hutchinson’s combination of talent and work ethic has endeared him to both the franchise and the city. With the addition of the aforementioned Reader and upgrades to the secondary, 2024 looks to be the year where Detroit’s defense as a whole could finally put it all together.