A wild stat that shows Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson is in a league of his own

Three games into the NFL season, it's difficult to pick what has been most impressive about Aidan Hutchinson so far. It could be his 6.5 sacks, which are 1.5 more than anyone else in the league. It could be that he's decided to make himself beat offensive linemen twice because he's addicted to the grind. Or it could be his 25 quarterback pressures, which is seven more than anyone else in the league, according to PFF. Hutchinson is a huge reason why Detroit remains in the top three in FanSided's NFL Power Rankings.

Sacks and pressures are both impressive stats on their own, and a player being this far ahead of every other player in both categories is a pretty telling sign of dominance. Just three games in, Hutchinson has put together a stat line that most NFL players would be satisfied with for an entire season.

Aidan Hutchinson is on a record-setting pace

The Lions defensive end has been a disruptive player in each of his first two NFL seasons, tallying 21 sacks in those seasons combined. In 2024 alone, he might surpass that total. Hutchinson is currently on pace for well over 30 sacks this season, and — with all due respect to him — that likely won't happen, but if he can string together a few more dominant games like he has to start the season, the all-time sack record might start to feel attainable. Currently, the record for most sacks in a season is 21.5, held by Michael Strahan (2001) and TJ Watt (2021).

As the season progresses, and Hutchinson started being double — and triple-teamed by opponents, his torrid pace may come down to Earth. Though for the time being, Hutchinson is sprinting out to a lead in NFL Defensive Player of the Year rankings.

An even bigger load

Hutchinson is tasked with being Detroit's game-stopper on defense, and his responsibility might be getting even bigger — if that's possible. While the Lions have solid defensive pieces around Hutchinson, they also might be without Hutchinson's counterpart on the defensive line, Marcus Davenport, who Ian Rapoport reported is now out for the season with an elbow injury.

Though he's not the disruptive force that Hutchinson is, Davenport is a good NFL starter, and losing him for the season is a tough blow for Detroit. If Aidan Hutchinson thought he was getting all the attention before, the Lions losing a defensive starter could make him even more of a focal point for opposing offensive lines - even though that hasn't deterred Hutchinson at all through three games.