Allen Park — Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown can list all 16 wide receivers taken before him in the 2021 draft. For teammate Aidan Hutchinson, remembering his draft day slights are a little easier, but the fact that Sunday’s opponent, the Jacksonville Jaguars, passed on him with the No. 1 pick isn’t something he’s forgotten.
“It was weird, I thought I was going there for about three months and then about a week before the draft, something changed,” Hutchinson said. “I guess my arms were just not quite long enough, but that hit a week before the draft, so we’ll see if that extra couple inches was the difference.
“…The Jags are obviously the one team that passed on me, so that will definitely be in the back of my head playing that game.”
Hutchinson’s comments about his arm length were tongue in cheek, but it was one of the primary concerns mentioned during the pre-draft process about the former Michigan standout. Despite his college production and top-tier athleticism, some believed his ceiling was limited by his 32 3/8-inch arms, which are below average for his position.
The Jaguars instead took Georgia’s Travon Walker, who had less production in college, but possessed equal athleticism and a more prototypical frame for the position at 6-foot-5 and 272 pounds with 35 1/2-inch arms.
“I didn’t meet with them at the combine, I visited there once, but I didn’t talk to them a ton,” Hutchinson said about his pre-draft contact with the Jaguars. “I guess they just didn’t really see me in their system, so that’s fine by me. Detroit did, so I’m here now and I’m happy.”