The Philadelphia Eagles have always been a fan of stacking the trenches and they did just that with their third-round pick after doubling up on cornerbacks in the first two rounds.
They also made a business move to collect more picks and traded two more times back before they selected Houston Christian edge rusher Jalyx Hunt with the 94th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.
A to Z Sports' draft analyst James Foster ranks Hunt as the 90th-best overall prospect in the draft and 11th at the edge position.
Player Scouting Report from A to Z Sports Film Room's James Foster
Strengths:
- Long, athletic frame with rare straight-line explosiveness
- Only 2 years of experience as an edge rusher
- Converted safety with coverage instincts & speed to run vertically with TEs
- Advanced hand usage for such an inexperienced player
- Wins with cross-chop, double swipe, & speed-chop
- Lifts the pads & creates knockback as a bull rusher
- Short-area explosiveness to evade contact & shoot gaps
- Aggressive pad delivery & wide net as a tackler
- 5 career forced fumbles
- Stunt weapon that teleports from gap to gap & explodes upfield
Weaknesses:
- Needs to fill out his frame to hold up on early downs
- Struggles to set a firm edge & will get driven off the LOS
- Lacks play strength & urgency to shed blocks consistently
- Average bend/lower-half flexibility at the top of the rush
- Struggles to power through congested gaps on inside counters
- Wastes too much time reading the tackle's set instead of firing upfield
- Has some pass rushing moves, but still needs to improve precision & accuracy with his hands
- Only faced 2 FBS teams at Houston Christian (5 pressures/1 sack)
There's a lot of upside to Hunt, who could develop into a starting middle linebacker for the Eagles. But for now, he'll work as a quality depth piece.
Hunt, who measured in at 6-foot-4 and 252 pounds, had an impressive NFL Combine performance ahead of the draft where he recorded a 4.64 40-yard dash, 37.5-inch vertical jump, and a 10’ 8’’ broad jump.
In his two seasons at Houston Christian, Hunt registered 110 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries.
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