Derrick Moore had a full-circle moment. Playing four seasons for the Michigan Wolverines, winning a national title, and finally hearing his name called by the Detroit Lions as the No.44 pick in the second round. While he is fired up to play with Aidan Hutchinson, the former Michigan defensive end, too, dropped his take about Moore.

For the edge pass rusher, he will remain in the state of Michigan and just move from Ann Arbor to the Motor City. Without traveling much, he will be joining Hutchinson, with whom he missed playing by one season. Hutchinson, the leader of the pass rush unit, is equally excited about teaming up with Moore.

“L**!! Another Mich (Michigan) Man in the building. Love the pick,” he wrote on X on April 24.

Moore came to Ann Arbor as an incoming freshman and spent his early years trying to follow Hutchinson’s example.

“To be honest with you, that was one right there that I – I’m definitely excited about playing with Hutch,” Moore said. “When Hutch was leaving [Michigan], I watched him my whole freshman year, even my sophomore year. I just – everything was pretty much dedicated to breaking his sack record. I wasn’t able to do it, I got close, but I’m definitely excited to be playing next to Hutch.

He hoped to surpass his 14-sack 2021 record before ultimately posting a double-digit sack total himself. Moore already sees Detroit and the state of Michigan as his second home, even though there was interest from the Ravens, given that he is from Baltimore. 

In 12 starts last season, Moore tallied 30 tackles, led the team with 10.5 tackles for loss, and 10 sacks. He earned first-team All-Big Ten honors from coaches and second-team honors from the media.

He now looks forward to working with Hutchinson as a team.

“Hopefully, I can learn a lot from him, and we can go out and cause a lot of havoc," said Moore.

With this duo, the Lions finally addressed the plaguing issues.

What Did Brad Holmes Say About Derrick Moore?

Fans have criticized the Lions for not using high-end draft capital on their pass rush to pair with Hutchinson, the No. 2 overall pick in 2022. Still, the organization sticks to a specific mold and feels that Moore matched it.

“It’s a good question,” Holmes said. “If you want to call it just being very selective on the type of guys that we get, Hutch takes a lot of snaps, so just to have another body that literally can spell Hutch in that rush rotation when you line up in nickel and sub defense."

It was under Holmes and Dan Campbell that the Lions had one of the best records in the 2024 season and finished first in the NFC North with a win-loss record of 15-2. 

However, the Lions did miss the playoffs in the 2025 season, and with Moore now on the roster, they should look to make another push. 

Although Moore and Hutchinson did not cross paths in Michigan, the two former Wolverines stars are now set to join forces in the pros.

How do you think pairing Hutchinson and Moore will pay off? Share your thoughts.

Read more at Michigan Football Community.

Written by

Samvruth Raj

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar