ALLEN PARK — For all the talk about adding, drafting or bringing back an edge rusher. The Detroit Lions feel like they’ve found their running mate on the other side of star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson.
Enter Al-Quadin Muhammad.
Muhammad has 3.5 sacks and five quarterback hits through four games. He’s played between 37% and 52% defensive snaps over the three games with edge rusher Marcus Davenport on injured reserve. The 30-year-old has made the most of his time in Detroit and his newfound opportunities over the last two seasons.
“I was going to say, I think we all know that we have a guy opposite of Hutch now,” Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said. “I think we’re pretty safe to say that Muhammad is a guy opposite Hutch, not just another guy we’re throwing out there. But he’s been tremendous.
“I mean, you’ve literally seen Muhammad line up at the nose, the three, the edge, and hasn’t batted an eye. He’s gotten run game in there; it hasn’t just been pass rush. I’ve seen him drop a knee and anchor.”
Sheppard added that Muhammad is the type of player who does whatever he’s asked to do, no questions asked. Dan Campbell has raved about his unrelenting motor and the power he brings in the trenches, too.
Muhammad has had to work for every single opportunity and snap he gets. Sheppard previously said nothing was handed to that player, and that they didn’t even know if he was going to be on the roster after training camp.
The pass rusher was stuck on a practice squad and didn’t play in a game for all of 2023. He previously spent time with the New Orleans Saints, Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears before landing in Detroit last year. He started all 17 games in 2021, but was back in a rotational role in Chicago the next season and off of a main roster for all of 2023.
“Where he is in his career, to see him kind of ascending in a way is a credit to (defensive line coach) Kacy Rodgers,” Sheppard said. “But more importantly, it’s a credit to Muhammad, man.
“Head down, he’s been a grinder since day one, ever since I’ve met him.”
The Lions are tied for second in the NFL with 14 sacks through four games. Hutchinson has started breaking out and returning to last year’s form, with two forced tackles and four sacks to his name to this point.
Hutchinson is tied for third among pass rushers with 23 pressures created. Muhammad has 11, putting him inside the top 40 despite not being a full-time starter for the first two games.
Pro Football Focus ranks Hutchinson as the second-best pass rusher in the league to this point. And there is Muhammad, ranked 10th overall and 10th among pass rushers, too.
“Just the culture. The culture and what coach Campbell stands for, what (Kelvin Sheppard) Shep stands for, what coach Kacy (Rodgers) stands for — the whole organization,” Muhammad previously told MLive in the locker room. “I think I just fit perfectly, and we play the game the right way. That’s how I grew up playing. It’s perfect.
“I’m a firm believer that what you do in practice shows up in the game, so I try always to make sure I’m practicing at that game speed.”