Coordinator recap: Loftiest of expectations for Hutchinson, why Lions are betting on Bates and more

Allen Park — Detroit Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson has delivered on expectations as the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NFL draft, tallying 21.0 sacks through two seasons and earning Pro Bowl honors in 2023.

In addition to improving his sack production in his second season, Hutchinson was even more disruptive than the stat line suggests. He finished second only to two-time All-Pro Micah Parson in quarterback pressures.

Like most of Detroit’s starters, Hutchinson didn’t play in the preseason. But those who have watched him in practice, battling against stellar offensive tackles Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell, have seen signs a defender ready to take his game to the next level in 2024.

Asked for his expectations for Hutchinson, defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn set the bar as high as you could imagine.

“Listen, Hutch has had a tremendous offseason,” Glenn said. “He had a tremendous training camp. Now, he's at that point that he needs to set his sights at being if not the best player defensively in his league, to be one of the best players — which he is (already). But now it's time for him to look at himself as the player.”

Last year, Cleveland’s Myles Garrett was named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year, edging out Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt and Parsons. In total, 11 players received votes on the 50 ballots.

Hutchinson, who finished with 2.5 fewer sacks and one fewer forced fumble than Garrett, conceivably doesn’t have much ground to close to make up the difference, at least from a pass-rushing perspective.

● While the fan base has shared their concerns with unproven kicker Jake Bates, those sentiments are not shared within the organization. In a nearly 700-word answer on the topic, special teams coordinator Dave Fipp acknowledged there’s going to be inconsistency, but the team believes they are sitting on a potential top-tier option once Bates develops.

“I feel great about him, I’m really excited about him,” Fipp said. “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.”

In the past, I’ve noted the Lions potentially feared letting Bates go, only to see him develop somewhere else, specifically referencing how the Atlanta Falcons gave up on Matt Prater early in his career before he went on to star in Denver, Detroit and Arizona. Fipp confirmed the scenario was a concern, referencing another recent example.

“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 kicker Daniel) Carlson or those guys,” Fipp said. “It’s like, maybe Minnesota shouldn’t have given up on him so fast and just hung in there and be patient.”

Carlson, a fifth-round pick in 2018, was released two games into his rookie season. In six years with the Raiders, he’s made a staggering 89.4% field goals.

● One of the biggest reasons the Lions' offense could be better this season than the top-five unit it has been the past two years is the potential for developmental jumps from some of the roster’s younger contributions, led by Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs.

There’s probably not much more to say about the hype Williams has generated through training camp, but offensive coordinator Ben Johnson rubber-stamped the work the third-year receiver has put in this offseason.

“My confidence is as) high as it’s ever been and continuing to climb,” Johnson said about Williams. “The more reps, the more time we get together on the field, the better I feel about him. He’s grown in so many ways, on and off the field. As a player, as a route runner, as a receiver, and then off the field, just his preparation, how he’s taking care of his body, his demeanor with his teammates and interactions with them.”

As for Gibbs, the Lions were highly encouraged by his developments as a pass-catcher, even if a hamstring injury has hindered his ability to maximize that area of growth through training camp.

“Shoot, when he came back in the springtime, you could tell that he had been working on some of that route-running stuff,” Johnson said. “Unfortunately, the availability hasn’t been there consistently, so probably didn’t get to explore that as far as we would’ve liked. But we certainly feel really good about where he was at in the springtime, what he’s shown here in camp, from the backfield, from the slot, from out wide.

● The Lions haven’t had to worry about what Hutchinson will bring to the defense, but the team has struggled to find a complement on the opposite end of the defensive line.

This offseason, the team targeted former first-round pick Marcus Davenport, who Glenn overlapped with while both were in New Orleans, to fill that void. Davenport had 9.0 sacks in 2021, but has seen his last two seasons derailed by injuries.

Regardless, Detroit has high hopes for a rebound heading into the 2024 campaign.

“Listen, this man fits exactly who we want to be on defense,” Glenn said. “He’s a violent, he’s a physical, he’s an athletic big man that play the game the right way. …If you’ve got a guy like that that can bull rush and that can condense the pocket, that allows Hutch and other guys to go to work, and we expect that.”

Beyond the projected starters, the Lions could also really use some reliability off the bench to round out the edge-rushing rotation. A top choice to fill that role would be former second-round pick Josh Paschal, who is entering his third season.

“When you watch him in the preseason, I think the one thing that stands out about him is he’s starting to understand exactly who he is and how he has to play to be successful,” Glenn said. “And (defensive line coach Terrell Williams) T has done a really good job of helping him understand that. You see the power. He’s a big man that can play on the edge. You see the power in that aspect of him being able to collapse the pocket. You see the quickness when he’s playing inside, to be able to win those one-on-one situations. Does he still have room to grow? Yes, he does, but that’s what we’ve got T for, to be able to help unlock those things that are in him.”

● Fourth-round draft pick Sione Vaki is understandably raw after making the full-time switch from safety to running back, but it’s difficult to ignore what he was able to accomplish during the preseason. He averaged a hearty 5.1 yards with 10 carries and added four receptions on four targets for another 40 yards.

Outside expectations might be low, given the stability the Lions have at the top of their backfield depth chart, but Johnson said the team will look to find ways to incorporate Vaki in the weekly game plan.

“We don’t want to come out of a game and guys have zero snaps on offense,” Johnson said. “And so, if he’s active on game day, absolutely, we’d love to find a package for him to get out there, whether it’s some carries or some routes. Whatever that is, that’d be great.”

● A big change with the defense this offseason was the moving of Brian Branch from nickel to safety, the position he played at the University of Alabama. The Lions had caged him to the narrower role as a rookie, which allowed him to flourish, but are now focused on keeping the playmaking defensive back on the field as much as possible.

Part of that plan, Glenn acknowledged, was moving Branch around the back end to keep opposing offenses on their toes.

“Because he can do so much, and when you have an instinctive player like him, you want to allow him to be able to move around,” Glenn said. “And he’s a smart player, so he can play in the box, at the nickel and be able to make plays down low. He can play deep safety and be able to intercept balls. If you watched him at Alabama, he’s done that. He did that quite a bit. You watch him at our practice, he did that quite a bit. …So we’re going to put him in those positions to be able to do that.”

● Parker Hesse got less attention than most when the Lions announced the team’s initial 53-man roster, but he won a hard-fought competition to be the No. 3 tight end, beating out more familiar names such as James Mitchell and Shane Zylstra.

Johnson explained what Hesse showed this offseason to secure the spot.

“He’s excellent in-line, very strong, very physical,” Johnson said. “You could see this during training camp, preseason games, we had him at some fullback. We liked his ability to come down and isolate linebackers. And then he’s been really smart and dependable, whether he needed to be the Y, the F, or in our heavier packages, to move him around a little bit. So I think that’s what really tipped the scales in his favor in terms of making the 53.”: