Aidan Hutchinson wins Defensive Player of the Month (September)

After a dominating September, Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson wins NFC Defensive Player of the Month.

After a dominating September, Detroit Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson has been named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month. This adds to the Lions’ accolades for the week, as quarterback Jared Goff was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week just a day earlier.

Per the Lions PR department, Hutchinson is the first Lions defender to win this award in a decade, as the last to accomplish this was DeAndre Levy in September of 2014, and he is also the first Lions defensive lineman to ever receive this recognition.

Hutchinson’s 2024 stat lines are very impressive, and after just four games, he leads the NFL in sacks (6.5), PFF’s pass rush win rate (35.4%), as well as pressures per NextGen Stats (26) and PFF (40). For perspective, only two other players have hit the five-sack mark and per PFF, the closest players to Hutchinson have just 23 pressures and a 28.8% pass rush win rate.

Additionally, Hutchinson made PFF’s first-quarter All-Pro team and currently sits at the top spot in PFF’s pass rusher rankings heading into Week 5. Hutchinson has been at the top of these rankings since the beginning of the season, but temporarily lost his No. 1 ranking to Myles Garrett in Week 4, before reclaiming it this week.

“Hutchinson generated an incredible 15 pressures on 64 pass-rushing snaps against the Seahawks in Week 4, bringing his total to 40 for the season (17 more than any other player),” PFF’s Ryan Smith wrote. “His 35.4% pass-rush win rate is also the best in the NFL.”