Despite being nominated for a pair of awards, Aidan Hutchinson left this season’s NFL Honors empty-handed.
The Lions’ star pass rusher came up short in both the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) race, which went to Browns’ defender Myles Garrett, and the Comeback Player of the Year (CPOY) award, which went to 49ers’ running back Christian McCaffrey.
Hutchinson falling short in the running for DPOY to Garrett comes as no surprise. The Browns star turned in one of the most dominant seasons by a defender in league history. Garret finished with 60 combined tackles, a league-leading 33 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, and an NFL record 23 sacks.
The Associated Press reports Garrett finished with every first-place vote, followed by Texans’ Will Anderson (77), Packers’ Micah Parsons (63), Broncos’ Nik Bonitto (52), and Hutchinson (42).
Despite losing out for DPOY, Hutchinson had a compelling case for CPOY after a dominant 2025. Hutchinson’s 2024 campaign was cut short during a Week 6 matchup against the Cowboys, where he broke his left fibula and tibia, effectively ending his season.
Starting all 17 games for the Lions this season, Hutchinson turned in a Career high in combined tackles (54) and sacks (14.5), forced fumbles (four) and quarterback hits (35), tied a career high in solo tackles (36) and tackles for a loss (14). Throughout the season, he was truly a force of nature when needed.
However, McCaffrey’s performance this season was a key factor in the 49ers’ 12-5 finish and postseason berth.
McCaffrey’s year was cut short last season due to a PCL injury in Week 13, which required surgery, sending him to the injured reserve list. He returned in 2025, starting all 17 games, finishing the year with 1,202 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns, along with 924 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns.
Although Hutchinson didn’t take home any hardware, his efforts this season were noticed.
The fourth-year edge rusher earned his second Pro Bowl and first second-team All-Pro honors for his bounce-back season.