Ahmed Hassanein remains something of an international man of mystery for the Detroit Lions. Even after the rookie minicamp and OTAs, it’s hard to pin down just how much the sixth-round rookie will contribute at defensive end for Detroit in 2025.

Hassanein is still a greenhorn as a football player. Despite playing 48 games over four seasons at Boise State, Hassanein remains technically raw. That’s because he grew up in Egypt, not playing football until he returned to California during high school.

The pads haven’t come on during practices yet, so it’s tough to gauge Hassanein’s overall skill level. This much is obvious: he’s extremely high-energy and passionate. Lions head coach Dan Campbell has taken notice.

“I like his intensity, I like his urgency, he seems to be a pretty smart guy,” Campbell said of Hassanein prior to the final OTA session. “There’s things he’s going to have to learn from. He’s a little bit raw. But there’s nothing that tells me, ‘Man, I don’t like this guy,’ or, ‘He’s miles away,’ or something like that.”

Campbell did caution that “his reps were walkthrough. He didn’t get live reps – we had to back off on some things.” Still, it’s easy to see why No. 61 appealed to the Lions in the draft process. Expect Hassanein to be a popular figure once training camp fires up and the Lions fans get to see the enthusiastic rookie at work.