Aidan Hutchinson Listed as Lions MVP of 2022 Season

Could Aidan Hutchinson be the team MVP his rookie season?

The Detroit Lions are expecting to take steps forward in the 2022 NFL season. 

A revamped defense is expected to rush the quarterback at a much higher rate and improve against the run. 

Aidan Hutchinson was the consensus No. 2 overall pick for the front office and coaching staff, once Travon Walker was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the top pick. 

If the Lions are to turn things around, young players must step up and perform early on in their careers. 

In a recent NFL.com list of each team's non-quarterback candidate to become team MVP, Hutchinson surprisingly got the nod for the Lions 

"A rookie winning MVP? Laughable. Sure. Sure. Sure. But what if the homegrown talent dominates out of the gate, racking up sack after sack for a previously toothless Lions defense," writer Kevin Patra asked. "If Detroit is to go worst-to-first in the NFC North, the defense must be better, and that starts with Hutchinson having one of the greatest seasons in club history after setting the single-season Michigan sack record."

An impressive first season from the Michigan product would go a long way in instilling confidence in the fact that Detroit's rebuild is heading in the right direction. 

Patra notes that it might take a significant statistical performance from Hutchinson, in order for him to be named the team's MVP of the 2022 season. 

"Suppose the edge rusher blasts past the rookie sack record of 14.5, approaches the 20-sack mark and plays like a man possessed as the Lions stun the football world in Year 2 of a rebuild," Patra writes. "Then does it sound so ridiculous?"