Heading into the 2022 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions did one hell of a job not letting anyone know which direction they planned on going when they were on the clock with the No. 2 overall pick.
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Though the media had no clue about what the Lions were planning on doing, it did not take too long for Dan Campbell to know that Aidan Hutchinson was the player he wanted.
In fact, according to a report from Albert Breer, by the time Campbell was done watching three of Hutchinson's games at Michigan, he was sold.
Dan Campbell did not take long to know who he wanted
From Sports Illustrated:
“I’ll tell you what stuck out. I was like, My gosh, this guy’s relentless,” Campbell said Saturday morning. “I wrote down relentless, wrecking ball, explosive, good hand use. There’s a number of words I can use to describe him. But if you’re asking for one that just really stood out, it was he was relentless. And it was in both areas, run and pass game.”
“He’s a major pain in the ass, ’cause, look, he’s not going to just catch his breath on a play,” Campbell continued. “He’s catching his breath between plays, and when it’s time to go and they snap the ball, until they blow the whistle, this guy is all out, all the time. And I would say there’s a lot of refinement to him, he’s really worked his craft. But man, he’s got room to improve now. I’ll tell you what excites me about him is where his ceiling is.”
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Dan Campbell said the Lions did not overthink the pick
When it came time to actually making the pick official, Campbell said that the Lions rushed to the podium and did not overthink it.
“I don’t think we overthought it. Brad said, ‘Turn it in, let’s go,’” Campbell said. “Because we knew we were good, ‘Let’s go, he’s our guy.’ We weren’t going to wait around, and we’re not going to do the whole dog-and-pony show. We got our guy and we turned the card in. … We said from Day 1, you ask A.G. [coordinator Aaron Glenn], What do we want our defense to be known as and built off of, what type of players? Relentless, rugged, smart, explosive and nasty, in the run game and pass game. This guy fits that bill. He’s everything we’re about.”
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