Aidan Hutchinson has met, even exceeded expectations after the Lions took him No. 2 overall in 2022. But defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn sees a much higher ceiling for the third-year edge rusher.
Love reading the coordinator takes, thanks Justin. Everything these guys are saying feels completely logical, very little hyperbole or puffery here. I can especially see Branch taking the leap to All-Pro this year. So impressed with every aspect of his game, already, and he strikes me as a quick learner, too.
On how much growth he has seen in Lions K Jake Bates and his comfort level with him heading into Week 1: “Yeah, I feel great about Bates. He’s definitely a young player, he’s going to have some ups and downs. I think when you’re playing that position, it’s a difficult position to play because everybody jumps on the, ‘Oh my gosh, this guy’s incredible. Oh my gosh, he had a miss and he’s the worst ever.’ When you’re a great player at that position, you have (Ravens K Justin) Tucker on the back of your jersey or (Eagles K Jake) Elliot on the back of your jersey and you miss a kick, everyone’s like, ‘Oh yeah, but he’s fine.’ But when you don’t have that on the back of your jersey and nobody really knows your name or you knew when you’re getting into it, you live and die by all those kicks. The one where I say it is, two years ago (Chiefs K Harrison) Butker – Kansas City Chiefs were playing in the Super Bowl and Butker missed a kick, but nobody talks about it because they won the game. Sometimes when you play on a great team, that position goes less noticed because the games not – every game in this League ends up being close, so when you’re not on a great team you end up losing some of those close games and you pin it on the kicker more, or it’s more likely to be pinned on that guy when in truth, the numbers on most of these guys are very close. A lot of them hit high 80-something percent, low 90 percent, and some of those numbers are skewed – speaking of data – some of those numbers are skewed because one team had to kick a 50-something yarder at the end of the half with two seconds on the clock just because it was their best shot at getting points on the board before they went in the locker room at halftime. And one kick, one miss makes a big difference on the percentage because you’re talking about whatever, 20 to 30 kicks on a season. So anyway, I feel great about him, I’m really excited about him. He’s one of the most talented players I’ve been around at that position. I think all the guys on the other teams in the preseason watch him warm up and are like, ‘Oh my gosh, this guy’s incredible.’ So, he has a tremendous upside, which if you’re going to invest in a player and take a chance, you definitely want to do it with a guy who can turn out to be a really good player for you. I think we have to be patient with him. At that position, there’s a lot of history that says a bunch of those guys end up making it on their second team or their third team, like (Raiders K Daniel) Carlson or those guys, and it’s like, maybe Minnesota shouldn’t have given up on him so fast and just hung in there and be patient. Now that being said, I would also say that he’s got to do his part too and you have to make enough kicks and do a good enough job to stick around, but I certainly feel really good about him. I think in the preseason we had two snappers we were working, I think it’ll help him to settle down with one player there and help those guys get into a rhythm. I think that’s an important part of the position, so I think that’ll help him. We obviously play indoors 14 times this year, that’ll help. So anyway, I’m really excited about him, I think he’s a really talented player. He’s obviously got to improve. The other thing that I love about him, he’s very self-aware and I think that’s probably one of the best qualities you can have in this building if you’re a player, is knowing exactly who you are and I think he knows he’s a young, developing player who’s got to continue to improve. He doesn’t think he’s there yet, but I also think he’s confident in himself and knows who he is, and he’s got a lot of talent and believes he can get there.”
Love reading the coordinator takes, thanks Justin. Everything these guys are saying feels completely logical, very little hyperbole or puffery here. I can especially see Branch taking the leap to All-Pro this year. So impressed with every aspect of his game, already, and he strikes me as a quick learner, too.
Do not envy having to transcribe a 700 word answer.
Did you want to read it?
On how much growth he has seen in Lions K Jake Bates and his comfort level with him heading into Week 1: “Yeah, I feel great about Bates. He’s definitely a young player, he’s going to have some ups and downs. I think when you’re playing that position, it’s a difficult position to play because everybody jumps on the, ‘Oh my gosh, this guy’s incredible. Oh my gosh, he had a miss and he’s the worst ever.’ When you’re a great player at that position, you have (Ravens K Justin) Tucker on the back of your jersey or (Eagles K Jake) Elliot on the back of your jersey and you miss a kick, everyone’s like, ‘Oh yeah, but he’s fine.’ But when you don’t have that on the back of your jersey and nobody really knows your name or you knew when you’re getting into it, you live and die by all those kicks. The one where I say it is, two years ago (Chiefs K Harrison) Butker – Kansas City Chiefs were playing in the Super Bowl and Butker missed a kick, but nobody talks about it because they won the game. Sometimes when you play on a great team, that position goes less noticed because the games not – every game in this League ends up being close, so when you’re not on a great team you end up losing some of those close games and you pin it on the kicker more, or it’s more likely to be pinned on that guy when in truth, the numbers on most of these guys are very close. A lot of them hit high 80-something percent, low 90 percent, and some of those numbers are skewed – speaking of data – some of those numbers are skewed because one team had to kick a 50-something yarder at the end of the half with two seconds on the clock just because it was their best shot at getting points on the board before they went in the locker room at halftime. And one kick, one miss makes a big difference on the percentage because you’re talking about whatever, 20 to 30 kicks on a season. So anyway, I feel great about him, I’m really excited about him. He’s one of the most talented players I’ve been around at that position. I think all the guys on the other teams in the preseason watch him warm up and are like, ‘Oh my gosh, this guy’s incredible.’ So, he has a tremendous upside, which if you’re going to invest in a player and take a chance, you definitely want to do it with a guy who can turn out to be a really good player for you. I think we have to be patient with him. At that position, there’s a lot of history that says a bunch of those guys end up making it on their second team or their third team, like (Raiders K Daniel) Carlson or those guys, and it’s like, maybe Minnesota shouldn’t have given up on him so fast and just hung in there and be patient. Now that being said, I would also say that he’s got to do his part too and you have to make enough kicks and do a good enough job to stick around, but I certainly feel really good about him. I think in the preseason we had two snappers we were working, I think it’ll help him to settle down with one player there and help those guys get into a rhythm. I think that’s an important part of the position, so I think that’ll help him. We obviously play indoors 14 times this year, that’ll help. So anyway, I’m really excited about him, I think he’s a really talented player. He’s obviously got to improve. The other thing that I love about him, he’s very self-aware and I think that’s probably one of the best qualities you can have in this building if you’re a player, is knowing exactly who you are and I think he knows he’s a young, developing player who’s got to continue to improve. He doesn’t think he’s there yet, but I also think he’s confident in himself and knows who he is, and he’s got a lot of talent and believes he can get there.”
amazing... you're the best Justin
Awesome!
You are a saint. I hatedddddd transcribing when I wrote hockey.
I LOVE Fipp
What’s with the availability comment RE Jamo? I don’t recall him missing much time during camp.
I’m so excited for Sunday, I can’t breathe.
Think you're getting comments about Jamo and Gibbs mixed up
Hell of a day to learn I can’t read. Thanks, Brian!
Nah man, I had to re-read it myself!