Jalyx Hunt is about to Change Everything...

Jalex Hunt is about to change everything for the Eagles defense as he enters year three under Vic Fangio. The Philadelphia Eagles need him to be a premium pass rusher and even more. I'm your host Colin Kelley. Welcome to Eagles Digest. In today's video, we're gonna dive into Spotlight 1 Jalex Hunt and the monster summer he has had with specific reports, player quotes, and explain why the Eagles are counting on him more than ever. Before we do, subscribe to join the most passionately informed community of Eagles fans. It's free. Eagles fans who are going to look to one Jalex Hunt among other pass rushers as Jonathan Renard, the headline acquisition via trade of this offseason, is sidelined due to a pec injury he suffered earlier this offseason. We know Jonathan Renard, a veteran presence who has shown the ability to produce a lot of sacks with the Vikings, initially with the Texans. He is assuming a large role in this Eagles defense, but his availability to do so to start the season is somewhat in doubt. You look at Adam Schefter talking about one Jonathan Renard, his availability, in an interview with 97.5. Schefter went on to say it doesn't sound like the opener is a likely scenario. The start of the season's in jeopardy. I don't know if he misses two weeks, four weeks, one week. I don't know. They, as in the team, the Eagles, don't know. With this potential absence of, say, as long as the first quarter of the season of Jonathan Renard, Jalex Hunt is gonna have to step up and be one of, if not the, premium Eagles presence off the edge in pressuring the passer and ultimately producing sacks and maybe even interceptions. Jalex Hunt had an incredible breakout year last season when you look at six and a half sacks to lead the team, but also three interceptions. The first Eagle to do that. Leading a team in both sacks and interceptions is a crazy, crazy juxtaposition. Why does Jalex Hunt have the ability to do this in just his second year in the NFL? He's a converted safety. At Cornell, finds his way to ultimately Houston Christian, where the Eagles took him at the end of day two, the 94th overall pick in the third round in the 2024 NFL Draft. Jalex Hunt, by all accounts, has just had a monster, monster summer. You look at Brandon Lee Gowtin of Bleeding Green. Earlier this week on the Eagles open practice in particular, Jalex Hunt is living in the Eagles backfield. He's had a dominant summer. It's been a constant, constant theme this training camp. You look at Jeff Kerr on SI talking about one Jalex Hunt, the absence of Jonathan Grenard. The absence of Grenard allowed Hunt to erupt in training camp, backing up the breakout season he had last year. Hunt was dominant on the right side of the defensive line, having a lot of sacks and pressures in the team portion of practices. Hunt's primed to have a monster year. There is no more uniform agreement by Eagles beat writers, anyone who's followed the team over the duration, months of this summer. No one's stood out more than Jalex Hunt. No one has been more of a force, more of a disruptor than the year three defensive weapon that is Jalex Hunt. You can hear it from the beats, but how about actual teammates? Nolan Smith having this to say about one Jalex Hunt earlier this week. He's just a phenomenal player, man. His growth just keeps going up. It's exponential. It's an honor to work near him. We feed off each other. He's a great guy to be around. Nolan Smith and Jalex Hunt are poised to be the dominant edge rushers the Eagles are counting on at the start of this season. And over the course of the season, with a Nolan Smith in particular, the hope that he's able to stay healthy after having a triceps injury that saw him just play in 12 regular season games last year, it underscores the importance of the role that Jalex Hunt has to be ready to assume, and even more. And he's done everything he possibly could in Jalex Hunt to prepare, to be clear, to not break out. As one Jeff McClain of the Inquirer put it, Jalex Hunt, in an article he newly released alongside Olivia Reiner, Jalex Hunt is fine with you noticing, his ascent. Just don't call the Eagles pass rusher a breakout player. Jalex Hunt, you got to love the confidence. You got to love the understanding, the self-image. After breaking out last year in just his second season in the NFL, the Eagles believe in him. He believes in himself. Jalex Hunt is an incredibly unique player. The Eagles fortunate to have been able to draft him. And when you think about draft gems, specifically, when you think about Grenard's potential absence, the roles, all the room for opportunity in the Eagles edge, pass rush, if you want to call it, circle. How about the camp that one Joshua Weiru has had? The undrafted free agent, what looks like already a home run steal. Grenard being on the pup list for the start of the season, the ascension of one Jalex Hunt, Nolan Smith getting healthy, and all this flash that one Joshua Weiru has shown, the Eagles are in, I think, better shape than a lot of people think as far as edge rusher. Jimmy Kemski of Philly Voice had this to say about Weiru in doing a little bit of a rookie stock up stock down camp report. His movement skills are more advanced than Bernard's, and you are Bernard, the international pathway seventh round pick. The Eagles prioritized over Weiru clearly with the actual draft pick investment. At this stage of their respective developments, he has shown enough intriguing raw athleticism that I believe he could get claimed by another team if the Eagles waived him. I think the Eagles have to keep him on their 53. This Weiru signing as a UDFA already looks like yet another in another feather in the cap of one Howie Roseman. How did he acquire Jalex Hunt? How did he ultimately get Joshua Weiru? It's not rocket science. He prioritizes upside. He looks at specific traits, athletic ability, that is leveraged by the foundation, others in the organization, others like one Vic Fangio, the best defensive coordinator in the NFL, one of the brightest minds the game has ever seen. In coordination with, of course, a Clint Hurt, the defensive line coach, Fangio, they know how to identify talent, how to find potential gems that make Howie Roseman look like an utter genius. You had, all the way back in the 2024 NFL Draft, one Brandon Lee Goughton talk about this, a tweet in reference to Daniel Jeremiah, the lead draft expert across the industry. Jeremiah said he was told Jalex Hunt is one of Vic Fangio's favorite players from the 2024 NFL Draft. What was a little bit of an interesting pick at the time, so much unknown even for draft heads who follow, keep up over the course of months, as soon as the NFL offseason, before the NFL season's even done, keeping up with the Joneses, the top draft prospects. Hunt was such a unique story, the Eagles knew he was one of their priority guys. You also had Vic Fangio speak to, earlier this week, about one Jalex Hunt, having this to say, the guy that he loved at the 2024 NFL Draft, the guy that the Eagles, that Howie Roseman, brought to one Vic Fangio, on Hunt's development entering year three, he had this to say, It's what I expected and hoped for, but now I hope for and expect for more. Am I surprised, he went on to say, is this unexpected? That's who he is. Vic Fangio loves everything he's seen from Hunt, the first two years in the league, where it was thought of as a potential project player. That timeline has expedited, has sped up in a way that perfectly aligns with the Eagles' current needs, with a Grenard absence looming, with no Jalen Phillips, who they, of course, targeted, prioritized, wanted to keep, but then got blown out the water with the Carolina Panthers offer. That was enough to sign one Jalen Phillips. The Eagles have a critical season ahead. I know it, you know it, we all do. The defense, the comfort, the strength of this team, led by Vic Fangio, is going to ultimately come down to how effective a Jalex Hunt is at generating consistent pressure, at being not a breakout player, but a breakthrough, a star, a Pro Bowl-level player, and potentially even more. Guys, I want to hear from you. What Eagle leads the team in sacks? Who is it? Is it Nolan Smith this year? Do you think it's Jonathan Grenard? Do you think it's Jalex Hunt? Or is it somebody else, like a Jalen Carter? Let me know in the comments. For me, if it's not clear already, it's one Jalex Hunt. Cannot wait, the regular season, just a couple weeks away. Go Birds!