The Jalyx Hunt hype train has left the station
The Jalyx Hunt hype train has left the station originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
If anyone knows how good Jalyx Hunt can be, it's Jordan Mailata.
He's the guy who has to block him every day.
Oh man, he's going to be special," Mailata said this week after just one training camp practice. He's going to be special, man. His burst, he has tendencies like Micah (Parsons), just to be able to cut on a dime like that. I'm so proud of that guy, the way that he works. How do I go from Josh Sweat to Jalyx, man? It's crazy. I'm just like, Howie (Roseman), give me a break for one year! Jesus!'
Jalyx is going to be a star, man. And I'm glad I get to go up against him because I know if he's giving me hell, he's going to give everyone else hell."
As much as Vic Fangio would probably like to slow down the hype train around his second-year edge rusher - especially after Mailata offered up a comparison to one of the best defensive players in football - even the grizzled defensive coordinator seems excited about Hunt.
Jalyx, to me, the last third of the season into the playoffs played a lot for us and played good," Fangio said, and we have high expectations for him."
The Eagles drafted Hunt last year in the third round (No. 94 overall) out of Houston Christian. Not only was he coming from a small football school but Hunt was also relatively new to the position, having been a safety at Cornell just a few years earlier.
What Hunt lacked in polish, he more than made up for with raw ability and that popped in his first training camp. Still, it seemed like Hunt was more of a developmental prospect who would take some time to learn and grow at the NFL level. He was even a healthy scratch Week 1 in Sao Paulo.
But after that, Hunt began to carve out a role that is still increasing. He first played minimally on defense but continued to get better and better. And after having just 1 1/2 sacks in 16 regular season games, Hunt had another 1 1/2 in the playoffs and was a major contributor in the Super Bowl run.
Hunt played 241 snaps in the regular season and had 9 pressures. He played 103 snaps in the postseason and had 8. So after averaging a pressure every 26.8 snaps in the regular season, he averaged one every 12.9 snaps in the playoffs. His growth last year was impressive.
And after losing Josh Sweat to free agency and Brandon Graham to retirement this offseason, the Eagles will be relying on Hunt in Year 2. He has been lining up as a starter the first two days of camp.
Oooh! That boy gonna be the best thing since sliced bread, for real," fellow starting OLB Nolan Smith said on Thursday. That boy good. I just try to tell him keep his head down and keep working."
The Eagles have the youngest defense in the NFL and Smith returns as their top edge rusher. During the first two days of training camp, Smith has been lining up as the left outside linebacker and Hunt has been lining up on the right. That means the daily 1-on-1 matchups with the first teams are Smith vs. Lane Johnson and Hunt vs. Mailata. Smith and Hunt are going against the best pair of offensive tackles in the NFL and it's making them better.
Not only does Hunt have Mailata on the field every day but he and Smith got close last season. They were always together and Smith is willing to help Hunt with anything he can, just like Sweat and Haason Reddick did for him. Even though Smith is just entering his third NFL season, he's the Eagles' top edge rusher and he clearly sees something in Hunt. Heck, he saw it last year too.
Why is Smith so confident in Hunt?
Just his work ethic, his attitude and his God-gifted ability, his talent," Smith explained. He's hungry and he work. And he corrects his mistakes. That's what makes good players. You never have a good day. You notice your mistakes, you fix your mistakes, you correct them quick."