The New York Giants were expected to have one of the very best defensive fronts in football last year. They, unfortunately, failed to meet those expectations.
The Texas Tech Red Raiders, however, boasted one of the very best defensive fronts in all of college football. Their front propelled them to the fourth seed in the College Football Playoffs and they should have (at least) four defenders drafted in the first two days.
That includes defensive tackle Lee Hunter, who bears a certain resemblance to a young Dexter Lawrence. Hunter is big, powerful, explosive, and surprisingly quick (in a short area), but hasn’t yet fully unlocked his potential. Could the Giants be just the place for him to reach his ceiling?
Prospect: Lee Hunter (2)
Games Watched: vs. Utah (2025), vs. Kansas (2025), vs. Arizona State (2025), vs. UCF (2025)
Red Flags: none
Measurables
Height: 6-foot-4 (unofficial)
Weight: 330 pounds (unofficial)
Strengths
Best traits
- Size
- Power
- Play strength
- Explosiveness
- Short area quickness
Lee Hunter is a massive and powerful defensive tackle who also possesses uncommon quickness for a player of his size. Hunter has a prototypical build for a nose tackle at 6-foot-4, 330 pounds, but carries his weight very well and is a surprisingly good athlete. Hunter does an excellent job of keying the snap and is often one of the first defenders moving at the start of the play. He has a potent first step, with good burst and consistently gains ground into the backfield.
Hunter does a good job of pairing leverage with his burst to maximize his play strength, making him a handful for individual blockers and allowing him to control double teams. He’s able to collapse the pocket as well as clog interior gaps in the run game. Hunter’s size and strength also allows him to make plays off of blocks, typically forcing cutbacks or slowing runners so his teammates can swarm to the ball.
He isn’t a great pass rusher on his own, at least not yet in his development. He needs to get more efficient in his hand usage to fully unlock his pass rush potential. However he’s able to push the pocket to prevent quarterbacks from stepping up, as well as create opportunities for his teammates. Hunter opens rushing lanes for blitzers as well as occupying blockers to create one-on-one matchups for Texas Tech’s talented edge rushers.
Finally, Hunter shows great competitive toughness in his pursuit, quickly redirecting in pursuit. He isn’t a speedy player, but offers consistent effort in chasing down ball carriers.
Weaknesses
Worst traits
- Long speed
- Pass rush technique
- Arm length
The first weakness in Hunter’s game is a byproduct of his sheer mass. While Hunter is quick off the snap, his play speed quickly drops over any kind of distance. That isn’t an issue most of the time, however it impacts his pursuit as well as his pass rush ability if the quarterback is able to scramble or not forced to step into the pocket.
Hunter’s long speed also impacts his ability to be a looper, limiting how he’s able to be used in stunts and twists. There are also questions regarding his endurance and conditioning. He seems to need to be used in a rotation and he has a tendency to pop up off the snap and lose leverage as fatigue sets in.
The second issue in Hunter’s game comes from his tendency to lean on his bull rush as a pass rusher. He doesn’t have much in his pass rush arsenal beyond his bull rush, and his hand usage is still somewhat raw. Hunter is capable of driving blockers back into the pocket, but can struggle to disengage to make a play or disrupt in the backfield. Improving his hands and incorporating a more diverse set of pass rush moves would more fully unlock his potential.
Game Tape
(Hunter is the Texas Tech defensive tackle with a red sleeve on his left calf, wearing number 2)
Projection
Lee Hunter projects as a starting defensive lineman with positional and scheme versatility. He naturally fits as an A-gap defender, likely as a 1 or 0-technique nose tackle, however his initial burst and short-area quickness should allow him to play any interior alignment.
Hunter will need to land in a situation where he’ll be able to play in an active rotation as well as develop his hand usage to reach his full potential. That potential, however, is considerable and he has the upside to be an impact player. Hunter should go relatively early on the second day of the draft.
Does he fit the Giants? Yes
Final Word: A Day 2 pick
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