Player
Al-Quadin Muhammad
DL · Lions
Al-Quadin Muhammad: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
11 sacks in 2025 — more than his previous 7 NFL seasons combined.
MilestoneMuhammad sacks by season
| Season | Team | Sacks |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | NO | 0.0 |
| 2018 | IND | 1.0 |
| 2019 | IND | 3.0 |
| 2020 | IND | 2.0 |
| 2021 | IND | 6.0 |
| 2022 | CHI | 1.0 |
| 2024 | DET | 3.0 |
| 2025 | DET | 11.0 |
His prior career total was 16 sacks across 7 seasons (2017-2024). The 2025 Lions season is 11 sacks all by itself — a 9th-year breakout that nearly doubles his career production in one year.
The one wrinkle: there is no 2023 row for Muhammad in the database. He was out of football that year before Detroit signed him back to the practice squad in 2024 — that's the kind of comeback arc that almost never produces an 11-sack season.
Sacks per season
| Season | Sacks |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 0 |
| 2018 | 1 |
| 2019 | 3 |
| 2020 | 2 |
| 2021 | 6 |
| 2022 | 1 |
| 2024 | 3 |
| 2025 | 11 |
Career path: 3 teams, 1 year out of football, then a 9-sack jump in his 30s.
TrendMuhammad full defensive line
| Season | Team | Tackles | Sacks | QB Hits | TFL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | NO | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | IND | 14 | 1.0 | 3 | 6 |
| 2019 | IND | 17 | 3.0 | 9 | 8 |
| 2020 | IND | 15 | 2.0 | 7 | 3 |
| 2021 | IND | 25 | 6.0 | 13 | 7 |
| 2022 | CHI | 11 | 1.0 | 3 | 1 |
| 2024 | DET | 9 | 3.0 | 5 | 5 |
| 2025 | DET | 15 | 11.0 | 20 | 9 |
A 6th-round Saints pick in 2017, Muhammad spent his 20s as a useful but ceiling-capped rotational DE. His best previous year was 2021 in Indianapolis (6 sacks, 13 QB hits).
The 2025 Lions year is the line that breaks his career profile open: 11 sacks, 20 QB hits, 9 TFL — all blowing past every prior career-high. Detroit's defensive front (Hutchinson, Davenport rotation) likely creates the one-on-ones; he's converting them.
3 sacks per QB hit in 2018-2022. In 2025: 1 sack per 1.8 QB hits — finally finishing.
AnomalyQB hits per sack by era
| Period | Sacks | QB Hits | Hits per Sack |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-2022 | 13.0 | 35 | 2.7 |
| 2025 | 11.0 | 20 | 1.8 |
From 2018-2022 Muhammad averaged a sack every 2.7 QB hits — meaning he was usually pressuring but not finishing. In 2025 that's tightened to 1.8 hits per sack, near the league-average rate for productive edges.
The pressure rate was always there. What changed: closing speed, hand technique, or just better matchups inside Detroit's scheme. The result is the first time in his career the sack column matches the hurry column.
27-year-olds returning from a year out of football rarely post 11-sack seasons.
RareMuhammad was not on an NFL roster for the 2023 season — Chicago released him after 2022 and no team picked him up. Detroit signed him to the practice squad in October 2024.
From that position — a 30-year-old practice-squad reclamation — to leading or co-leading the Lions in sacks is a comeback narrative that rarely happens. Most DEs out of football for a full year don't return at all, let alone post a career year two years later. It's the kind of story that gets him a real contract in 2026 free agency, if he wants one.
Lions tenure: 14 sacks and 25 QB hits in 2 years — almost matching his 5-year Colts total.
SplitMuhammad by franchise
| Team | Seasons | Sacks | QB Hits | TFL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colts (2018-2021) | 4 | 12.0 | 32 | 24 |
| Bears (2022) | 1 | 1.0 | 3 | 1 |
| Lions (2024-2025) | 2 | 14.0 | 25 | 14 |
His two Lions seasons (14 sacks, 25 QB hits) have already produced more pressure than his four Colts seasons (12 sacks, 32 QB hits). On a per-season basis the Lions delta is enormous: 7 sacks/year in Detroit vs. 3 sacks/year in Indianapolis.
Fit matters in pass rushing. Aaron Glenn's scheme has unlocked something that the Colts' scheme — also a 4-3 base — never did. The other variable: Muhammad turned 30 between contracts. Whatever Detroit is doing, it's working with a player most teams considered cooked.
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