2022 NFL mock draft: Aaron Rodgers to Broncos, Derek Carr to Commanders

2. Detroit Lions: Aidan Hutchinson, EDGE, Michigan

I’m sure Detroit Lions fans have been having a ton of fun with 2022 NFL mock draft scenarios lately.

Aidan Hutchinson again, eh?

Surprise, surprise!

If Hutchinson doesn’t go first overall — which he very well could — it’s just really hard to see a scenario where the Detroit Lions would pass on him.

He fits an obvious and pressing need for this team off the edge. He’s already going to be beloved by the majority of the fan base. What he lacks in flash he makes up for in production.

He seems like exactly the type of player this rebuilding Detroit Lions team needs, a true star on the defensive side of the ball who can make the players around him better.

It had to be tough for Detroit fans watching Matthew Stafford hoist the Lombardi trophy in just his first season with the Los Angeles Rams. Stafford had spent his entire career in Detroit before he and the Lions decided to mutually part ways in 2021, and that move turned out to be a decision that will likely reshape Stafford’s ultimate legacy in the NFL.

Lions fans hoped back in 2009 that Stafford could help their franchise get to that spot, but now they are simply left with the reality that they have to endure yet another long-term rebuilding project.