The Detroit Lions came into the 2025 season with questions about who would pressure the quarterback in addition to Aidan Hutchinson, and so far, they’ve been pleasantly surprised by the answer.
Linebackers Jack Campbell and Derrick Barnes have impressively contributed eight total sacks to the cause, but the bus has mostly been driven by a resurgent Al-Quadin Muhammad. With six sacks and solid pressure metrics, the relatively unknown pass rusher has leaped onto the scene.
Pro Football Focus and writer Bradley Locker recently looked at naming some of the biggest surprises for every team this season. For the Lions, Muhammad was the choice given what he has done off the edge this season.
“The Lions have long pursued a running mate to Aidan Hutchinson at edge rusher, and they may have found a surreptitious candidate in Muhammad. The 30-year-old has produced a 76.0 PFF pass-rushing grade with 31 pressures and a 17.8% pass-rush win rate this season.”
The numbers have been impressive as well as the eye test. Muhammad has brought the goods so far, and isn’t likely to slow down as the season wears on. With this in mind, it’s clear the Lions may already have an acceptable running mate for Hutchinson the rest of this season.
While some have been sleeping on Muhammad, it’s clear he will play a big role for the Lions the rest of the way. Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell are placing their faith in him to keep stepping up, and likely believe thanks to him they didn’t need to make a deal.
Muhammad’s performance made it easy for Lions to avoid lineman trade
While many fans are rightly frustrated about Detroit’s inaction with regards to adding offensive line or cornerback depth at the deadline, the fact is, the Lions already have some quality pass rushers on the roster where a marginal player may not have represented that much of an upgrade.
Marcus Davenport is working back from an early-season injury, and could return in coming weeks to provide some depth for a group that has needed an extra punch. When he comes back, he’ll join Muhammad to hopefully boost the effort outside of Hutchinson. It seems like a tired cliche, but Davenport’s addition could almost serve as a deadline move at defensive end.
In order to trade for a difference-making defensive end, the Lions may have had to surrender a first-round pick or a second-round pick given they don’t own a third in 2026. That wasn’t in the cards, because the Lions want to remain flexible in the offseason to either draft players or fill out their needs with potential offseason trades.
Defensively, the Lions have been able to be solid no matter who comes in. They’ve rotated well up front, and can still pressure the quarterback even without a move. If the Lions didn’t have Muhammad dominating, they might have felt more urgency to make a bigger splash at this position.
With Muhammad, the Lions already have a sneaky good presence up front. He might end up the top surprise story in the entire NFL this year.
