The 2022 Detroit Lions leaned heavily on GM Brad Holmes’ second rookie draft class to play key roles, especially on defense. And after some early bumps, the 2022 rookies made considerable contributions for a resurgent Detroit team that finished 8-2.
Along the way, the Lions set the NFL record for most sacks by a rookie class and also had the third-most interceptions.
ESPN, in conjunction with Football Outsiders and Sports Info Solutions, ranked the contributions of all 32 rookie draft classes for 2022. Detroit finished seventh overall in the rankings on the heels of Aidan Hutchinson, Kerby Joseph, Malcolm Rodriguez and the late-season blossoming of James Houston.
Here is ESPN’s explanation of the production criteria and judgment,
To rank the rookie classes, we started with Sports Info Solutions’ Total Points metric. Based on game charting, Total Points takes every element of a play and uses all of that data to evaluate each player on a scale that allows you to compare between positions: How many points do we estimate that this player either earned for his offense or saved for his defense?
Seattle took the top spot with a fantastic rookie class. Detroit’s finish at seventh instead of higher up stems from the relative lack of impact from the two offensive rookies, WR Jameson Williams and TE James Mitchell. Both Williams and Mitchell began the season rehabbing and recovering from torn ACLs in college and were brought along slowly by design and intent.
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