ALLEN PARK — ESPN’s annual ranking of the NFL’s top 100 players for the upcoming season is another stark reminder of how quickly the Detroit Lions have developed into contenders. Before diving into the rankings and the six Lions featured, ESPN analysts evaluated players with a focus on the upcoming season, then compared and compiled those rankings.

The Lions had tight end Sam LaPorta (68th), quarterback Jared Goff (65th), running back Jahmyr Gibbs (52nd), wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (25th), offense tackle Penei Sewell (24th) and edge defender Aidan Hutchinson (19th) crack the rankings. They had just four players from last year’s list – Goff, Sewell, Hutchinson and St. Brown – and no one in the top 50.

Guess how many the Lions landed for the 2022 campaign? That’s right, zero, nada, absolutely nothing.

Sewell and St. Brown were part of the first draft class of Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes that ran the show in Detroit. They have already established themselves as All-Pro level players and are among the best in the NFL at what they do. That’s why it’s surprising to some to see Hutchinson ranked ahead of not only Sewell and St. Brown, but also Las Vegas’ Maxx Crosby.

“Hutchinson is a top-25 player in this league,” ESPN analyst Matt Bowen wrote of Hutchinson’s top-20 ranking. “He’ll create a physical edge against the run game, get home to the quarterback (11.5 sacks in 2023) and make plays late on downs because of his effort level. But I disagree with Hutchinson being ranked higher than Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby (No. 26), who is a more disruptive and productive pass rusher.”

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Hutchinson and Crosby are two of the workhorse kings at their positions in the NFL. And Hutchinson took his game to new heights last season, putting Detroit’s pass rush on his back from start to finish. He became one of the few players to surpass the 100-pressure mark in the regular season since the statistic was started by Pro Football Focus. And Hutchinson did it while remaining solid against the run and eating up a ton of double teams.

Another aspect that stood out regarding the Lions participating was St. Brown’s 25th-place finish, no closer to the top 10 players, or even within them.

“St. Brown immediately caught my attention as someone who should have been in the top 10 but wasn’t,” ESPN’s Eric Moody wrote. “He’s the leader of the Lions’ wide receiver group, especially after signing a four-year extension this offseason, and he’s been one of the most consistent pass catchers in the league. St. Brown led the Lions in games with 100-plus receiving yards last season (nine), and his connection to quarterback Jared Goff, who is second in passing yards in 2023, is undeniable. It was surprising to see St. Brown ranked 25th.”

And while it’s nice to see St. Brown in the top 25, it’s hard to decipher what some are missing from his game. The Sun God has established himself as one of the league’s most bankable offense players, playing in a high-octane offense and passing attack.

St. Brown stepped up his production in Year 3, catching 119 passes for 1,515 yards and 10 touchdowns, good for 75 first-down conversions on those receptions. His yards per target jumped 1.2 yards while averaging 7.4 catches per game. The connection between St. Brown and Goff is special, and it’s hard to imagine the receiver not matching or surpassing that production in 2024.