The cavalcade of 2022 regular season honors is kicking into full steam these days. One of the newer and more interesting teams comes from sports analytics site Sports Info Solutions, or SIS.
SIS revealed its all-rookie first and second teams from the season. The teams were chosen based on their analytical stats, SIS’s Total Points metric and staff voting. To no surprise, four Lions defenders made the teams.
Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and safety Kerby Joseph earned first-team honors. The notes on Joseph show just how impressive of a season the third-rounder from Illinois turned in for the Lions,
Joseph didn’t see any defensive snaps until Week 4, a week after starter Tracy Walker went down with a season-ending injury. From Week 4 on, Joseph’s 28 Total Points in coverage ranked 5th among all safeties and his 11.5 Points Above Average ranked 9th. Additionally, he finished the season with 4 interceptions and 4 pass defenses. After picking off Aaron Rodgers in the Week 18 finale, Joseph became the first player to ever have 3 interceptions against Rodgers in one season. He would’ve had 4 (2 on Sunday night) if not for a penalty.
Linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez and defensive end James Houston made the second team. Both were sixth-round picks who made big splashes in Detroit’s late-season defensive uprising, which spearheaded an 8-2 finish to the season after a 1-6 start.