Lions rookie edge rusher Ahmed Hassanein has not played football very long, but he has been a major student of the game. Now that he’s a member of the Lions, he gets to learn from one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL in Aidan Hutchinson. He is taking full advantage of that opportunity.
So much so that he is also starting to mimic Hutchinson’s play style as much as possible. Hassanein has studied Hutchinson since college and has been learning his moves. Now, he’s able to utilize the same moves as his new teammate.
In practice a couple days ago, Hassanein watched Hutchinson beat an offensive tackle by taking two quick steps to the outside and then hitting a swim move to the inside. Hassanein tried the same move on his next rep and found himself quickly in the backfield: Success. As Hassanein jogged back to the sideline, Hutchinson shouted at him, “Hey, bro, stop studying my tape!”
Hassanein also joked he wanted to hug Hutchinson because of how much he looked up to him.
“I was like, ‘Man, I just want to hug you,'” Hassanein said with a laugh. “I literally told him that. And he was like, ‘What?’ I was like, ‘No, bro, I just look up to you so much. I just want to be like you.’ He’s an amazing dude. … Just looking at that kind of guy and studying him and what he does, I just want to play with him. That’s all.”
Hassanein has potential after posting two nice seasons at Boise State in which he had a combined 22 sacks and 33 tackles for a loss between 2023 and 2024. There is still plenty of room to grow but if he continues to emulate Hutchinson, that development may happen sooner rather than later and the Lions will luck into a steal in the 6th round.
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Ahmed Hassanein doing his best to mimic play style of Aidan Hutchinson