NFL Draft Prospect Profile: Margus Hunt, DE Southern Methodist

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Margus Hunt

Green Bay Packers NFL Draft prospect profile: DE Margus Hunt

Player Information:

Margus Hunt, DE Southern Methodist

6-8, 277 pounds
Hometown: Karksi-Nuia, Estonia

STATS

NFL Combine:

40 yard: 4.66

Bench Press: 38

Vertical: 34.5″

Broad: 121.0″

3 Cone: 7.07″

Shuttle: 4.51

News and Notes:

One of the more interesting stories of the 2013 NFL draft, the 25-year old native of Estonia started out in track and field in high school and ended up winning gold medals in both shot put and discuss in the 2006 World Junior Track and Field Championships in Beijing.  Wanting to attend college in the United States, Hunt travelled to SMU in hopes of resurrecting the men’s track team under legendary coach Dave Wollman.  Unfortunately, neither Hunt nor Wollman were able to find funding for a track team so in order to stay in the United States Hunt turned to the football field.  Now 4 years later, Hunt approaches the NFL draft as one of the most intriguing prospects.

 What they’re saying about him: 

  • CBSSports.com: “Naturally powerful defender who can simply bull-rush his opponent deep into the pocket. Big, strong and reasonably active hands to fight through blockers’ attempts at grasping a hold of him. Good hand-eye coordination and times his leaps well to aid in his kick-blocking prowess. Has emerged as a player the offense must account for on virtually every snap and yet remains a better athlete than football player, which speaks to his exciting upside.”
  • NFL.com: ” Tall, thick but athletic lineman with loads of potential. Much quicker than you’d expect off the snap given his size, and his long first step helps him pressure the outside shoulder of tackles when outside and win the gap at three-technique. Shows the ability to anchor from both the 3-tech and 5-tech spots. Has the speed to run the arm and beat tackles off the edge. Fast and strong hands stun his man, extends his arms to keep leverage. Uses his length very well to keep blockers off his body. Plays contain well on the edge, pops off his block and swallows backs with his strong upper body. Long strides eat a lot of grass when closing to the quarterback. Good closing speed. Will chase plays downfield. Height and length allow him to affect quarterbacks’ vision when unable to reach him; they also make him an ideal interior player on the field goal block team. Flashes the ability to come off the ball hard and low in short-yardage situations despite his height. Good natural strength – can anchor and shed even when he loses the leverage battle. Varies the tempo of his pass rush well once the offensive line overplays his speed rush.”

 

Video:

 

Video Analysis:

  • Has the size-speed-strength measurables and body type that all teams covet, could be successful as either a 5-technique defensive end in a 3-4 scheme or a left defensive end in a 4-3 scheme.
  • Played all over SMU’s defense lining up at 5-technique, 3 technique and even some standing up or as 7-technique and was relatively disruptive from all positions
  • Is a kick blocking specialist who can get skinny at the point of attack and use his enormous height to bat down the ball.
  • Possess a decent first step but combined with his impressive strength makes it hard for offensive linemen to keep up.
  • Is more of a straight line player, being 6’8″ severely limits his ability to turn the corner and offensive tackles can ride him out of the play.  His height also makes him extremely susceptible to cut blocks.
  • Has a pretty decent set of initial moves, but lacks much of a follow up repertoire; in other words if his first move doesn’t get him through he’s probably going to be walled off.
  • Is wildly inconsistent, likely due to only playing football for 4 years.  On some plays he would completely dominante his opponent and other times his opponents would dominate him.  More refined offensive linemen will probably figure him out quickly until Hunt learns a more varied pass rushing repertoire
  • At 25 is probably a one contract player, perhaps 2 if he very successful, which will limited his upside.

If drafted by the Packers:

Margus Hunt is the type of player that the Packers desperately need defensive end.  Like I’ve mentioned before, defensive end and safety are the two most important positions in a 3-4 defense and great 3-4 defenses are typically highlighted by a great defensive end (Haloti Ngata in Baltimore, Justin Smith in San Francisco, JJ Watt in Houston and Calais Campbell in Arizona).  The Packers have tried twice to find a star defensive end in Mike Neal and Jerel Worthy but both have significant question marks coming into the 2013 season.  At worst Hunt would be valuable as a rotational player early on as CJ Wilson is also ready to enter his contract year and the Packers may look for more pass rush at the position.  Furthermore, Jerel Worthy is almost certainly unlikely to play in the beginning of the season (and is a viable candidate for IR) and Mike Neal has a long history of injuries.  That only leaves Mike Daniels, who is an odd fit at 3-4 defensive end.  If the Packers did draft Hunt, expect to see him mostly on special teams and maybe on passing down initially as Hunt is still an incredibly raw talent.  But if Hunt ultimately ends up becoming the player that many people project him to be, I wouldn’t be surprised to see his name along with Ngata, Smith and Watt as some of the best 3-4 defensive ends in the league.

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Thomas Hobbes is a staff writer for Jersey Al’s AllGreenBayPackers.com.

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44 thoughts on “NFL Draft Prospect Profile: Margus Hunt, DE Southern Methodist

  1. Can you imagine this guy covering kicks? Look out!

    What an exciting prospect, but I think TT would have to take him at 26 to get him at all. For some reason, I don’t see SF passing on him twice with picks 31 and 33, if he is there at 26 at all.

    Reminds me of Bruce Irvin last year–someone is going to take a gamble on his upside.

    1. I will state for the record that I never mentioned where I thought he was going to get picked. But I agree someone will look as his potential and probably overdraft him, though I doubt in the 1st round since this year is stocked with quality D-Line men.

  2. It seems every year’s draft has these combine monsters that put up eye popping numbers. I think it’s cool to just try and imagine a guy like this morphing into a modern day Ted “Mad Stork” Hendricks. Imagine if this guy had the motor and could edge rush opposite CM3. A lot of sleepless nights in NFL QB bedrooms.

    1. Like I mentioned above, Hunt simply isn’t built that way, Matthews is one of the best at turning the corner and he’s a lot shorter and his body type is a lot more conducive of lateral movement and “quick twitch” movement. Hunt is more like a battering ram where he will try to go through you not around you.

  3. Our problem last season was not making 3rd and 1’s. It is fun thinking about the blocked kicks but we need a RB, interior OL help. I would rather watch Lacy, Ball or Frederick on the 26th pick.

      1. And about 40 of them were coverage sacks. Get rid of it!

        Dump off to Harris solves that problems to a large degree, IMO.

        1. More realistically I think 10-20 could be considered coverage sacks so it’s not like the offensive line couldn’t improve.

          1. Hyperbole is an underutilized art on this site, so I thought I would give it a try.

    1. Ball or Fredrick at 26th overall? That seems–high . . .

      A big solution to fixing the 3rd and 1 woes would be to quit calling that stupid FB dive to Kuhn. MM, you ain’t fooling anyone with that call! He really needs to re-balance his 3rd and short play calling ranges.

      1. Agreed, I doubt Thompson will ever take a running back that high and watching Frederick’s tape didn’t leave me very high on him, plus he’s more a power blocker than a zone blocker which is still what the Packers primarily run. I think Schwenke is a better scheme fit than Frederick.

    2. Again I never said he should be picked in the first, I simply did a draft analysis on him. Also I would say after Colin Kaepernick destroyed the defensive line help would be greatly appreciated.

      1. And a very good analysis at that. I just think he will be over drafted and flare out. GB has too many needs to fill with the top 3 picks (S, OL, RB, ILB, OLB) and can get a DL to fill the role with a comp pick or FA. Even jenkins is willing to come back. I’d look for the kid from Mich State in the 3rd or 4th to play DE

  4. If you want a chance at the next Pierre-Paul or Aldon smith or Bruce Irvin, you get him early and keep your fingers, toes and everything else crossed, that he pans out. Big risk, serious upside potential.

    1. Typically I would say Thompson rarely makes those kinda of picks early in the draft. Perhaps Justin Harrell and Nick Collins would be two examples of players picked more on potential than production early in the draft, but really Thompson plays it pretty conservative in the first couple rounds.

      1. Thompson tends to go after guys who are hurt already. Someone needs to mention Harrell and Starks when TT wants to draft a guy that is hurting already.

        1. Well that comment seems to be a little misleading, outside of Harrell I don’t think Thompson has made a significant investment on a player who was hurt. Starks was a 6th round pick and he fell that far probably because he was injured, so that’s good value at that point. Also keep mind that football is a violent sport, you don’t see many players entering the draft with a completely clean bill of health.

          1. Neal is the only other guy that comes to mind that was drafted relatively early with a checkered injury history.

            1. I know Neal came in with a shoulder injury, but was there anything other red flags?

  5. not sayin’ i’d pick him but he’s already probably better than…

    wilson
    neal
    worthy
    daniels

    plus he could probably contribute right away in some capacity (ST, passing downs, etc.)

    if you pick a DB, S, WR your probably going to have to wait a couple years to see any production.

    go OL or DL early.
    i’d probably lean towards DL ‘cuz on the O side you at least have a couple guys who might possibly be able to show improvement… i don’t think anyone on the DL can get any better than what they are right now.

    1. Is your argument that S,CB,or WR is too deep on the Packer roster for a pick to contribute any time soon, or that it takes that long for a player to develop at those positions?

        1. Ted Thompson is always thinking a lot more long term than most fans so I don’t think he feels like he doesn’t have the time to develop players.

    2. Excellent pt. ,We need a pass rushing end, and he or Carradine is better than those players.As much as I am not happy with our O line we do have young serviceable players, so protecting Mr. Rogers could be achieved via a an improved running game by adding a good back. BALANCE

    3. I would probably argue that OL is one of the hardest positions to transition to the NFL, especially when protection calls become that much more complicated to go in line with more complicated offenses in general. RB and DL are probably two of the easier postions to pick up quickly

  6. if he is there at 26 he is a must take this guy is a game changer. Imagine him on the field with clay matthews and when nick perry gets healthy.

    1. I don’t think many analysts think he’s 1st round worthy,but hey who knows

  7. Well, he’s 6’8″ and runs a 4.6 40. If he doesn’t work out as a DE, he can always become a TE! Now there’s a target in the red zone.

  8. I’ve studied Hunt alot… In my opinion, as a former Strength coach and w/ a degree in Ex Science, Hunt is about as big as he’ll get. Theres a couple factors involved in it…
    1. Hunt is 25 years old, an age where elite athletes are at their near max physical development.
    2. As a former Elite Power Field athlete he’s been training in a similar manner to football for his entire career. So his growth potential is nearly maxed out.

    I’ve watched quite a bit of Hunt since I heard about him. All his sacks come from outside rushes. Very few come from the interior positions. His age and training status and body type are indicative of a mesomorph, not a endomorph. IMO the Packers need guys that are tough and physical run stuffers, not edge rushers. Matthews and Perry are the Packers edge rushers for the foreseeable future unless Perry is an abject failure which I doubt will be the case. Hunt, from what I’ve seen, isn’t a good interior pass rusher.

    For all his ht and length and ability to block kicks he doesn’t have the instincts to really affect throwing lanes very well. He just doesn’t seem to get himself into position to affect throws unless he already happens to be there and then he still doesn’t seem to get his hands in the way as often as he should.

    Hunt should go to a 43 team where he can use his explosiveness and length to be a good pass rusher. He is far more Jared Allen (6’6 270) than he is Richard Seymour (6’6 310). If he goes to a 43 D he has a chance to be successful, but as a 34 DE he gets washed out vs double teams and isn’t the interior pass rusher the Packers need. Matthews and Perry will get all the edge rushing opportunities for the next few years, IMO.

    1. Excellent points – you’ve highlighted why I’m not that big on him (for the Packers’ 3-4). As you pointed out, he’s much better off going to a 4-3 team…

    2. I still think he could morph into a good inside rusher because that frame could handle more weight and his conditioning could translate into a non stop moter. However, I have a concern that he might be one of those work out warriors that don’t like to get down and dirty or play nicked up which is needed for the trenches. Carradine has that nasty, wide hipped combo.

      1. I dont think he can gain enough or much more weight. He doest have the body type IMO. And he’s a fully grown man at age 25. That’s my whole point…

    3. Interesting observations, I will say that while most of his sacks and disruptions do come from the outside, he was able to split a double team now and then and beat some players on the inside. I imagine he has an easier time on the outside where he simply runs past a guy rather than breaking the interior because he’s so raw in his technique that he gets walled off when heading straight on. I would say pretty much the same for affecting throwing lanes, he probably doesn’t have the awareness at the moment, but does have the potential. I would argue that the Packers need more pass rush from the DE postion as opposed to run stuffing, Cullen Jenkins made the defensive line great in 2010 and it was because of his pass rushing and not his run stuffing.

      1. IIRC Jenkins sacks in’10 came from a DT position w Raji abd Matthews or someone else outside. Now we have Matthews and Perry as our outside rush LB. More interior pass rush would help more.

        1. If I remember correctly (and correct me if I’m wrong), Jenkins was the base left end in the 3-4 and was one of the down linemen in the nickel. I want to say he did most of his damage out of the nickel where in essence he is playing DT, but that’s just what I remember. I also think that getting run stuffers is no where near as hard as getting pass rushers. For comparison’s sake Mike Neal was drafted in the 2nd and CJ Wilson was drafted in the 7th.

          1. Jenkins was the Packer Right DE (against the LT) in base. ANd yes he moved to DT in nickel pass rush situations. So almost all his sacks came from inside at DT. I’m not against getting Jenkins back on the cheap to see if he has anything left. Would much prefer to get Canty if possible. In nickel we have Raji, Neal, Daniels, Worthy is a ? for now. So Jenkins can find playing time if he can still rush the QB. Matthews and Perry are gonna be our rush LB on the outside.

            Jenkins was a contributor to the Packers DL in ’10 and a big one, but I wouldn’t say he MADE the Packer DL what it was.

            Yes pass rushers are more difficult to find. I’m not big on using a high pick on DL would rather get Canty or Jenkins and draft a run stuffing 34 DE in the mid rounds.

  9. I think were all mostly in agreement that this team needs a lot. The pass rush was underwhelming. Yes the numbers contradict me but hey wait, you get more hurries and take downs WHEN THE DEFENSE IS ON THE FIELD ALL DAY LONG due to defensive backs and run stopping play.
    We need O line help to save Rogers from being hospitalized, a running back that can take a beating (leaves out Starks, Siene, Benson Green)DB’s who can cover (leaves out Williams) and outside LB’s who can stop the run – leaves out Perry, Moses, Zombo, Walden, Jones; and run stoppers (leaves out Raji and Worthy).
    This team sounds like a 6-10 team to me.
    We’ll see. But I know one thing, they will not get healthy with just this draft. Three at least.

    1. lol you might want to calm down, the Packers have these issues, but so does everyone other team due to the salary cap. The Packers are one of the best teams in the NFL and their previous record would indicate that. We just don’t notice because we don’t follow other teams as closely as we do the Packers. Do you think Packers fans or Jaguars fans are more confident about their team?

  10. The Packers seem to draft DLine high every year and nothing much comes of it. So, the answer is to keep banging your head against the wall and draft a 26-year old underwear olympics warrior because the 49’ers shredded the Packers like every other 3/4 defense. What’s the use of drafting these guys if Capers only lines up TWO lineman 59% of the time? The Packers play more 2-4-5 than anybody.

    I’d much rather have a TE, an ILB, CB, even WR than another DLineman in one. That said, you just know TT will draft a lineman or LB.;)

    1. well the argument would be that since the 49ers offense shredded the Packers defense, most notably from Colin Kapernick running the ball all over them, a better D-line would be a great help. I would also make the argument that when you only line up two linemen, it’s even more important that you have dominant linemen cause they aren’t going to get much help

      1. We also need faster and more physical LB play. We know Matthews is great. Perry plays the run physically but is poor in coverage. I would move Bishop to Hawks position and either draft Ogletree or use Manning (a faster more athletic Bishop-type ILB). That along w/ getting Canty as a true 34 DE would do wonders for the Packers D IMO.

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