ALLEN PARK – ESPN’s annual rankings of the top 100 NFL players for the upcoming season are another clear indication of how quickly the Detroit Lions have become a contender. Before we get into that ranking and the six Lions featured, ESPN analysts evaluated players with a focus on the upcoming season and then compared and compiled those rankings.
For the Lions, tight end Sam LaPorta (68th), quarterback Jared Goff (65th), running back Jahmyr Gibbs (52nd), wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (25th), offensive tackle Penei Sewell (24th) and edge defender Aidan Hutchinson (19th) made the rankings. Last year’s list had only four players, Goff, Sewell, Hutchinson and St. Brown, and no one in the top 50.
Guess how many the Lions have acquired ahead of the 2022 season? That’s right, zero, nada, none.
Sewell and St. Brown were part of the first draft class of Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes, who was in charge in Detroit. They have already established themselves as All-Pro players and are among the best in the NFL at what they do. So it is surprising to some that Hutchinson is ranked not only above Sewell and St. Brown, but also ahead of Maxx Crosby of Las Vegas.
“Hutchinson is a top-25 player in this league,” wrote ESPN analyst Matt Bowen of Hutchinson’s top-20 ranking. “He will be physical in the run game, get to the quarterback (11.5 sacks in 2023) and create good plays thanks to his late-down efforts. But I don’t agree with Hutchinson being ranked higher than Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby (No. 26), who is a more disruptive and productive pass rusher.”
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Hutchinson and Crosby are two of the best workhorses at their positions in the NFL. And Hutchinson took his game to a new level last season, carrying Detroit’s pass rush on his shoulders from start to finish. He became one of only a handful of players to surpass the 100 pressures mark in the regular season since Pro Football Focus began tracking the stats. And Hutchinson did it while staying strong against the run and taking a ton of double coverage.
Another aspect that stood out with regard to the Lions featured was the placement of St. Brown at number 25, neither closer to nor within the top 10 players.
“St. Brown immediately caught my eye as someone who really should be in the top 10 but wasn’t,” ESPN’s Eric Moody wrote. “He’s the leader of the Lions’ wide receiver group, especially after signing a four-year contract extension in the offseason, and he’s one of the league’s most consistent pass receivers. St. Brown had the most games with over 100 receiving yards last season (nine), and his connection to quarterback Jared Goff, who ranks second in passing yards in 2023, is undeniable. It was surprising to see St. Brown ranked 25th.”
And while it’s nice to see St. Brown in the top 25, it’s hard to understand what some are missing about his game. The Sun God has established himself as one of the league’s most reliable offensive players, playing in a high-profile offense and passing attack.
St. Brown upped his production in year three, catching 119 passes for 1,515 yards and 10 touchdowns, with 75 first-down conversions on those passes. His yards per target increased by 1.2 yards while averaging 7.4 catches per game. The connection between St. Brown and Goff is special, and it’s hard to imagine the receiver not matching or surpassing that performance in 2024.
