I think a good comparison for Hunt and how he will be used here is Andrew Van Ginkel, who was a fifth-round pick for the Dolphins.

A lot of teams don't need tweeners like him, who are at best average in coverage and average as pass rushers. But in the right scheme, they are pretty important pieces because of their versatility.

Hunt doesn't have to ever develop into a premier pass rusher or a premier cover man. He just has to be above average at both, like Van Ginkel. If he can do that, he becomes a real problem for opposing offensive coordinators.

 

1 hour ago, eagle45 said:

Hunt may become a multi pro bowl edge for us…I’m not saying he’s going to fail.  But people are throwing around the term freak athlete way too liberally with him.  4.64 and 37.5 at 252 pounds isn’t bad, but it’s faaar from freak status.  And yes, you can get athletic profiles like that in the 3rd round.  Often.

Youre looking at straight line explosiveness. Hes a guy that big who is used in coverage a lot. His movement skills, at his size, are freakish. 

1 hour ago, RememberTheKoy said:

 

 

Is it the extension him and Hurts give each other, or the contract extension?

15 minutes ago, Freshmilk said:

I disagree.  You definitely draft for immediate impact. In baseball, hockey, sometimes basketball you don't draft for immediate impact.  In football, the top 100 draftees are drafted for immediate impact.  With the average career about 3 years immediate impact is imperative.  NFL players need to have impact quickly and develop simultaneously.   Very unique sport in that regard.  Careers are short, peak years are minimal.  

Reaching for immediate impact is another story.  

Well, we will have to agree to disagree on that.   Teams that look for immediate impact, rather than build for the long haul are the ones that are constantly picking at the top of the first round, destined to repeat the failures of the past.   Because you aren't looking for a player who will only contribute for 3 or 4 years, but instead for a player that can give you 8-10+. 

Everyone making the big deal about Hunt but many would have been fine if we drafted Trotter in the 3rd.  Replace the two picks and call it a day

8 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Well, we will have to agree to disagree on that.   Teams that look for immediate impact, rather than build for the long haul are the ones that are constantly picking at the top of the first round, destined to repeat the failures of the past.   Because you aren't looking for a player who will only contribute for 3 or 4 years, but instead for a player that can give you 8-10+. 

Of course you hope for 8-10 years.  It just doesn't happen nearly as often as 3-4 years.  Furthermore, the long haul in football is just a few years. 

Remaining Eagles on the roster from the 2017 SB:Jake Elliot, Lane Johnson, Graham.  It is a churn and burn league.  Doesn't mean you don't plan for the future, but the future in the NFL is the next 2-3 seasons, not 8-10.

Nonetheless I am now a huge Hunt fan and hope he is great.

20 minutes ago, Freshmilk said:

I disagree.  You definitely draft for immediate impact. In baseball, hockey, sometimes basketball you don't draft for immediate impact.  In football, the top 100 draftees are drafted for immediate impact.  With the average career about 3 years immediate impact is imperative.  NFL players need to have impact quickly and develop simultaneously.   Very unique sport in that regard.  Careers are short, peak years are minimal.  

Reaching for immediate impact is another story.  

Reaching for immediate impact IS the story.  GMs without job security prioritize immediate impact over effective use of draft resources.  They reach trying to keep their jobs.  They don't look to move picks down or into next year. 

Teams that pass on 10's and 9's to address immediate needs with 8's end up with at team full of 8's.

Howie was already looking at the 2025 draft when he recognized the need to bolster their draft capital next year. 

It is good business.

With Elliss waived what's the plan at back up NT?  Mustipher?  Or do we have something else in the mix

17 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

Youre looking at straight line explosiveness. Hes a guy that big who is used in coverage a lot. His movement skills, at his size, are freakish. 

Right. His fluidity in movement at that size is the freakish part.

11 minutes ago, Freshmilk said:

Of course you hope for 8-10 years.  It just doesn't happen nearly as often as 3-4 years.  Furthermore, the long haul in football is just a few years. 

Remaining Eagles on the roster from the 2017 SB:Jake Elliot, Lane Johnson, Graham.  It is a churn and burn league.  Doesn't mean you don't plan for the future, but the future in the NFL is the next 2-3 seasons, not 8-10.

The 2017 marker is an interesting one.  The 2017 Eagles were a veteran heavy team, so having few remaining from then isn't surprising.   And then the team has gone through a transition, that has lasted 4-5 years... They are rebuilding a youth base... and finally some of the 'old guard' have moved on (Cox and Kelce being the obvious ones)

But the goal for the draft is LONG TERM sustainability, not short term success.   If you want short term only, you go the route the Rams did and trade away the draft picks for established vets.   

6 minutes ago, Freshmilk said:

Of course you hope for 8-10 years.  It just doesn't happen nearly as often as 3-4 years.  Furthermore, the long haul in football is just a few years. 

Remaining Eagles on the roster from the 2017 SB:Jake Elliot, Lane Johnson, Graham.  It is a churn and burn league.  Doesn't mean you don't plan for the future, but the future in the NFL is the next 2-3 seasons, not 8-10.

Nonetheless I am now a huge Hunt fan and hope he is great.

I actually like hunt’s long-term potential. But the 1st year you’re very likely not getting anything out of him. Tend to think hunt only plays as a rookie is if we have a ton of injuries or the Eagles are just so bad they’re willing to just play young kids. And i don’t think they should IR him for the year. He needs the practice reps if he’s not going to get game reps.

I think year 2 is where you hope he becomes a situational/rotation type player. Even that i think with it being his first significant snaps that you aren’t likely seeing his best that year til midseason or maybe later. Really year three is where you hope you hit gold with this pick. He is  raw. It is going to take time and coaching to get there. I would be surprised if in the first two years the eagles are seeing the fruits of their labor that they envisioned. To me this pick was always about where he’s at year 3

1 hour ago, Iggles_Phan said:

You don't draft for immediate impact.  That's how you end up with Jon Harris or Danny Watkins.   You draft to take the best players available.

For this season, at 'edge' we have:  Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham returning, along with Nolan Smith, and the newly acquired Josh Huff and Zach Baun (who I think could be used as both an edge and off-ball LB, plus ST).    As such, there's already at most 5 players, but at least 4 players that are in line for snaps.  I think for this year, they absolutely CAN afford to dedicate themselves to developing a guy like Hunt.   Besides, this was a very poor draft for edge players.  So, the only place you were going to get a player like you suggest in the draft would have been if they went in a completely different direction in Rounds 1 and 2.  In other words, getting those players AND an instant impact edge wasn't a viable option.

 

It's not a guarantee to work out, but for this season, any impact from the edge they might have gotten in Round 3 would have been lucky to make as much impact as Nolan Smith did last year.  Let's hope his year of practice and training pays off with a better player this year, and that's the place where the impact actually comes from.  But, player development is really where the improvement comes, not with ready to use players from the draft. 

 

I don't think any team drafts players with the idea that they are projects.  No one thinks Mitchell and DeJean are projects.  They should contribute immediately.  I think the idea the Eagles have is drafting a player with starting upside and they place a premium on positional value.  I am not sure this is exactly the same as BPA.  They may pass on the best LB, wIho they think has more starting upside, for a player like Hunt at higher valued position. 

25 minutes ago, Freshmilk said:

I disagree.  You definitely draft for immediate impact. In baseball, hockey, sometimes basketball you don't draft for immediate impact.  In football, the top 100 draftees are drafted for immediate impact.  With the average career about 3 years immediate impact is imperative.  NFL players need to have impact quickly and develop simultaneously.   Very unique sport in that regard.  Careers are short, peak years are minimal.  

Reaching for immediate impact is another story.  

When you say the team should draft for immediate impact, I think you are really talking about drafting for need vs. drafting for positional value/bpa.  NFL careers are short but that does not mean a should not invest in players that have starting upside in high value positions.  I think the mistakes are when you over value positional value vs. best player.  

1 hour ago, just relax said:

I believe Hunt is going to play a position no one else does. If I am correct, Fangio sees him as a combo robber/SAM/SS. The QB will have to find him every time he comes to the LOS. He is NOT an edge rusher, though Fangio may blitz him at times. He can cover the TE or RB as a SAM, given his speed, height, and weight. He can give run support. He can fill the short middle or deep middle. He can drop to safety, where he has played. Fangio plays a LOT of zone. Hunt can fill in so many ways.

This feels so much like a Fangio pick and I think this is why. Most of the "pundits" are calling Hunt an edge but they are wrong. Just wrong.

I hope you are right but I don’t see the speed or instincts for SS.  I do think he may have SAM skills.  But he has to develop OLB/Edge skills too and that is where his raw promise shows up best.  

Howie has stacked up on OLB/Edge/SAM candidates this offseason.  He already had Nolan Smith as the primary investment there. The others are just pick ups.  We have the instinct challenged Brandon Smith, here for his third time in the past year.  Great athleticism that got him on the field at PSU but no development.  We have Terrell Lewis, who plays OLB Alabama style, meaning primarily a bull rusher.  Frankly, he should move to DE.  We have Julian Okwara, who may be able to drop, we’ll see.  We may need to include the undersized Baun here, who shows some potential to be able to drop.  We have Patrick Johnson returning.  Think this is his last TC.  So the challenge is on Washburn to develop their drop capabilities, edge setting and pass rushing techniques.  Hunt will have plenty of companionship in the classroom.  

So one move had me puzzled on the defensive coaching staff changes this year.  Ronell Williams went from Nickel to Assistant LB coach.  He has a background as a LB himself.  Mostly he has been a QC coach and has that as part of his duties this year.   I just wonder if part of his job is focusing on teaching zone responsibilities to the LBs, both ILBs and the OLB/SAMs positions. Expanded focus on the lower zone players. 

If someone is only going to get a few snaps on defense then you'd want it to be a guy who can excel on ST. Hunt has the right attributes to be a good ST player so I think he'll sneak in a few snaps on defense here and there

7 minutes ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

Reaching for immediate impact IS the story.  GMs without job security prioritize immediate impact over effective use of draft resources.  They reach trying to keep their jobs.  They don't look to move picks down or into next year. 

Teams that pass on 10's and 9's to address immediate needs with 8's end up with at team full of 8's.

Howie was already looking at the 2025 draft when he recognized the need to bolster their draft capital next year. 

It is good business.

You don't forsake one for the benefit of the other.  He did a good job of getting picks.  But if Mitchell and Dejean don't produce immediate impact it will be problematic.  In fact, with how most of us reacted to the picks, we are counting on them to have substantial impact right away.  Much of the conversation prior to the draft was around the strategy of drafting an OT who may not play for a couple years vs. drafting defenders who could improve the historically crappy defense immediately.   This idea that drafting for immediate impact is antithetical to success is confounding to me.

But like I said in a previous post, reaching for immediate impact is an issue.  

2 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I actually like hunt’s long-term potential. But the 1st year you’re very likely not getting anything out of him. Tend to think hunt only plays as a rookie is if we have a ton of injuries or the Eagles are just so bad they’re willing to just play young kids. And i don’t think they should IR him for the year. He needs the practice reps if he’s not going to get game reps.

I think year 2 is where you hope he becomes a situational/rotation type player. Even that i think with it being his first significant snaps that you aren’t likely seeing his best that year til midseason or maybe later. Really year three is where you hope you hit gold with this pick. He is  raw. It is going to take time and coaching to get there. I would be surprised if in the first two years the eagles are seeing the fruits of their labor that they envisioned. To me this pick was always about where he’s at year 3

I'd love to see him get ST reps... I want to see the tenacity in him come out on the field in real games.   And, if he's dressed... if they have any blow out type games, he could get some garbage time snaps to help his development.   He's not like Mailata where you don't play him while raw because it could literally get a QB killed.   Instead, he can slide into a ST role immediately - athleticism and aggression being the primary needs for ST roles - he's got the body for it... and if the opportunity presents itself, give him a few reps in very specific situations on the field with limited responsibilities to get a taste for it.

 

But, I agree.  He needs to stay on the 53 to work in practice (he won't get through to the PS).  But, with the new PS rules... that's a lot easier to do now.   Roster spot 52 and 53 can be 'red-shirt' options where they remain protected and get to practice, while 2 PS players can be elevated as needed if injuries hit and the depth is called upon.   

2 minutes ago, pgcd3 said:

If someone is only going to get a few snaps on defense then you'd want it to be a guy who can excel on ST. Hunt has the right attributes to be a good ST player so I think he'll sneak in a few snaps on defense here and there

Yes, I agree. Hunt has to learn a brand new position so he’ll get eased into that. Meanwhile he will play STs.

1 hour ago, RememberTheKoy said:

 

Hunt will hardly see the field at all this season.  Feels like a total project pick.

Thinking about the pick, I believe we may see him on the field earlier than expected.

He has the profile of an excellent special teamer, which is really how he is going to get on the active roster.

And once he is on the active roster, he gives the defense something different. We just don’t have a guy who can move in space with his size. And Fangio loves him.

I’d expect him to start getting on the field around mid season in 2nd or 3rd down packages focused on pass defense.

I almost wonder if on third down we abandon a MLB entirely with him acting as the traditional LB in dime packages.

9 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

I'd love to see him get ST reps... I want to see the tenacity in him come out on the field in real games.   And, if he's dressed... if they have any blow out type games, he could get some garbage time snaps to help his development.   He's not like Mailata where you don't play him while raw because it could literally get a QB killed.   Instead, he can slide into a ST role immediately - athleticism and aggression being the primary needs for ST roles - he's got the body for it... and if the opportunity presents itself, give him a few reps in very specific situations on the field with limited responsibilities to get a taste for it.

 

But, I agree.  He needs to stay on the 53 to work in practice (he won't get through to the PS).  But, with the new PS rules... that's a lot easier to do now.   Roster spot 52 and 53 can be 'red-shirt' options where they remain protected and get to practice, while 2 PS players can be elevated as needed if injuries hit and the depth is called upon.   

I would love to see him on special teams, but I still have a feeling it is gonna be a very rare occasion this year that he is going to be active. I think maybe the end of the year he can do it and get active. But i have a harder time seeing him being active every week to play those ST snaps. To me the only way I think he becomes active for games is if we have a bunch of injuries or the Eagles are just not good and they want to see what these guys are. I think when going with the actives and inactives the eagles will take guys to start the year that can play ST but also contributions if guys get hurt. Right now i don’t think he can do both. IMO i think hunt would have to be just an absolute stud on special teams to be active on game days to start the year 

Like you said they have to keep them on the 53 because I think they try to get him through waivers and stash him on the practice squad, some team is going to snatch him. It’s probably would be some bad team that can afford to have him on the roster and it doesn’t really hurt them that he’s taking up that spot. 

8 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

The 2017 marker is an interesting one.  The 2017 Eagles were a veteran heavy team, so having few remaining from then isn't surprising.   And then the team has gone through a transition, that has lasted 4-5 years... They are rebuilding a youth base... and finally some of the 'old guard' have moved on (Cox and Kelce being the obvious ones)

But the goal for the draft is LONG TERM sustainability, not short term success.   If you want short term only, you go the route the Rams did and trade away the draft picks for established vets.   

We'll go round and round, but long term success is relative.  For me, long term is 3 years.  

 

3 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I actually like hunt’s long-term potential. But the 1st year you’re very likely not getting anything out of him. Tend to think hunt only plays as a rookie is if we have a ton of injuries or the Eagles are just so bad they’re willing to just play young kids. And i don’t think they should IR him for the year. He needs the practice reps if he’s not going to get game reps.

I think year 2 is where you hope he becomes a situational/rotation type player. Even that i think with it being his first significant snaps that you aren’t likely seeing his best that year til midseason or maybe later. Really year three is where you hope you hit gold with this pick. He is  raw. It is going to take time and coaching to get there. I would be surprised if in the first two years the eagles are seeing the fruits of their labor that they envisioned. To me this pick was always about where he’s at year 3

I think the questions the Eagles have at edge this season are about Nolan Smith developing and Josh Sweat bouncing back.  In 2025, they likely lose Sweat and Graham is retiring.  I think the hope is that Hunt can fill one of their roles. 

13 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

 

I don't think any team drafts players with the idea that they are projects.  No one thinks Mitchell and DeJean are projects.  They should contribute immediately.  I think the idea the Eagles have is drafting a player with starting upside and they place a premium on positional value.  I am not sure this is exactly the same as BPA.  They may pass on the best LB, wIho they think has more starting upside, for a player like Hunt at higher valued position. 

When you say the team should draft for immediate impact, I think you are really talking about drafting for need vs. drafting for positional value/bpa.  NFL careers are short but that does not mean a should not invest in players that have starting upside in high value positions.  I think the mistakes are when you over value positional value vs. best player.  

I'm saying teams draft guys high expecting immediate impact.  We always drool over teams that get immediate impact from their rookies.  That's what we want and it is needed.  

22 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I actually like hunt’s long-term potential. But the 1st year you’re very likely not getting anything out of him. Tend to think hunt only plays as a rookie is if we have a ton of injuries or the Eagles are just so bad they’re willing to just play young kids. And i don’t think they should IR him for the year. He needs the practice reps if he’s not going to get game reps.

I think year 2 is where you hope he becomes a situational/rotation type player. Even that i think with it being his first significant snaps that you aren’t likely seeing his best that year til midseason or maybe later. Really year three is where you hope you hit gold with this pick. He is  raw. It is going to take time and coaching to get there. I would be surprised if in the first two years the eagles are seeing the fruits of their labor that they envisioned. To me this pick was always about where he’s at year 3

I hope it comes true but is is far more statistically probable he won't make it much past his 3rd season.  Heck, I fully expect the Eagles to draft another DE next season that will play immediately, jeopardizing Hunt's roster spot TC of 2025.

Just now, NCiggles said:

I think the questions the Eagles have at edge this season are about Nolan Smith developing and Josh Sweat bouncing back.  In 2025, they likely lose Sweat and Graham is retiring.  I think the hope is that Hunt can fill one of their roles. 

Wouldn’t be so sure the eagles don’t go invest in FA for another edge or in the first round. Wouldn’t really be surprised if the eagles signed a big time edge or drafted one in round 1 in 2025? If i were betting man and in this exact moment, i think their first round pick in 2025 is likely edge or OT. Possibly DT depending on how Jordan Davis looks this year and whatever happens with Milton williams 

12 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

 

I don't think any team drafts players with the idea that they are projects.  No one thinks Mitchell and DeJean are projects.  They should contribute immediately.  I think the idea the Eagles have is drafting a player with starting upside and they place a premium on positional value.  I am not sure this is exactly the same as BPA.  They may pass on the best LB, wIho they think has more starting upside, for a player like Hunt at higher valued position. 

When you say the team should draft for immediate impact, I think you are really talking about drafting for need vs. drafting for positional value/bpa.  NFL careers are short but that does not mean a should not invest in players that have starting upside in high value positions.  I think the mistakes are when you over value positional value vs. best player.  

Of course, Mitchell and DeSean are projects.  DeSean hasn’t played S or nickel and certainly not in the NFL.  Mitchell isn’t refined.   Lots of good on his tape but areas for improvement and biting against a MAC receiver isn’t the same as biting on a move by a top NFL WR.  Devonta Smith is going to be good for him.  38% of NFL CBs from the first round make it to a second contract with the drafting team.  CB has a high bust rate.  I am certainly happy with the picks  but they haven’t succeeded at the NFL level yet. This draft seemed more focused on potential than unusual.