Jalyx Hunt 2024 NFL Draft Profile
The pre-draft process is huge for these players who are coming out of the smaller schools. We have a prime example here in Jalyx Hunt from Houston Christian. A former Defensive Back turned EDGE Rusher who struggled at the NFL Combine, did he do enough to warrant an NFL team to use a draft pick on him? Let’s talk about it.
Hunt was not highly recruited, earning zero stars, and originally enrolled at Cornell before transferring to Houston Christian as a Defensive Back. During his time at school, he would put on a ton of mass and sort of be a tweener between EDGE and LB/S before declaring as an EDGE. He was not terrible in coverage, but he made more of a difference rushing the passer, finishing his career with 7.5 sacks.
You can tell where he put on most of his mass and it’s in his legs. He’s got tree trunks. He uses his lower body to drive well, primarily using bull rush moves. His Defensive Back speed also allows him to drop into coverage quickly. Not half bad footwork, knee bend isn’t terrible either. Could get lower. The closing speed also stands out on tape as well, when he gets into the backfield he’s like a heat-seeking missile.
Jalyx Hunt struggles to get past blockers. And as an EDGE Rusher, that’s kind of a big deal. Last I checked, if your job is to sack the QB, you have to be in the backfield for it. He’s also super raw as an EDGE Rusher, and I can understand if you watch his tape and want to take on that kind of project. If you get him into a locker room somewhere like Cleveland, Pittsburgh or Las Vegas potentially where they have an established star pass rusher, maybe he can learn.
I don’t think he’s a project that I would make a priority to have to take on. Jalyx Hunt gets an undrafted grade from me, but I would put in a call to add him as an undrafted free agent. I’d be curious to see him in an NFL camp and if he picks anything up, especially if I am one of those three teams I named above. If you’re expecting Hunt to come into camp and eventually turn into a starter, you are probably setting yourself up for disappointment.
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