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MANHATTAN, KS \u2013 NOVEMBER 01: Texas Tech Red Raiders defensive tackle Lee Hunter (2) in the fourth quarter of a Big 12 football game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and Kansas State Wildcats on November 1, 2025 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, KS. (Photo by Scott Winters\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Texas Tech defensive tackle Lee Hunter is a big, wide, powerful, athletic, and violent man. <\/p>\n
He\u2019s not just another big body to plug into the interior of a defensive line. <\/p>\n
No\u2026<\/p>\n
Hunter can move. <\/p>\n
He\u2019s deceptively quick, especially once he\u2019s into a gap and he has the quarterback or a running back in his crosshairs. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ll admit \u23af<\/p>\n
It surprised me when I first started seeing him make plays. <\/p>\n
Why\u2019s that?<\/p>\n
Because at first glance, I didn\u2019t think he\u2019d be able to move like that. He looked top-heavy. Not to be funny, but he\u2019s built like an oversized whiskey barrel with long arms and legs.<\/p>\n
But then he moved, and my eyebrows went up. <\/p>\n
I was like, \u201cWow.\u201d <\/p>\n
Not only could he move \u23af <\/p>\n
Hunter looked elite doing it for a defensive tackle. He looked like something straight out of a video game at times. He was flashing elite-level athleticism and acceleration once he got into a gap.<\/p>\n
25 pressures (Pro Football Focus<\/a>)<\/p>\n 10.5 tackles for loss (Sports-Reference.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n The numbers don\u2019t lie. <\/p>\n Neither did the film. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s guys on Sundays that wish they had this type of athleticism at 330 pounds like Lee Hunter does, that was impressive.\u201d <\/p>\n \u2014 FOX CFB \u2014 FIRST ROUND MOCK (@firstroundmock) March 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n What did Hunter look like on film? <\/p>\n As a pass rusher \u23af<\/p>\n By trade \u23af<\/p>\n Hunter is a gap shooter. <\/p>\n Sure, he has the pure power to put an offensive guard on skates and drive him back into the quarterback\u2019s face, but gap shooting is more his thing. Hunter has a lightning-fast swim move he can use to get into the pocket. He can instinctively smell space. <\/p>\n Either way. <\/p>\n Once he gets into the pocket \u23af<\/p>\n Lookout! <\/p>\n He quickly builds speed and momentum. He really accelerates toward the quarterback. <\/p>\n How does he look playing the run? <\/p>\n Hunter is a space eater who\u2019s hard to move out of the way. Sometimes he wins, and sometimes he doesn\u2019t. <\/p>\n But, he holds his own. <\/p>\n Biggest concerns?<\/p>\n Inconsistency<\/p>\n Wavering effort level when he stalls out<\/p>\n In 14 games, I notated 34 pass plays and 40 run plays when Hunter stood out on film. That\u2019s an average of 2.43 pass plays per game and 2.85 run plays per game. <\/p>\n Per Pro Football Focus, Hunter played in 523 snaps total in 2025 (37.4 per game average). <\/p>\n What\u2019s holding him back?<\/p>\n He\u2019s still raw as a pass rusher. He looks like he\u2019s still trying to figure it out. <\/p>\n Scary thought. <\/p>\n While the couple of pass rush moves he uses work pretty well, it\u2019s only a couple of pass rush moves (and they weren\u2019t used all that much overall). If blockers can stop him before he gets going, they stop him. The other thing is, once he\u2019s stopped, he doesn\u2019t show a secondary pass rush plan. He just puts himself into checkmate. <\/p>\n NFL projection<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the reality \u23af<\/p>\n Getting a defensive lineman like this on a rookie contract is going to be very enticing to some playoff-caliber team (18-32). That\u2019s where I see his valuation. His pass-rushing ability is the most intriguing part. Most of these defensive tackles are glorified run stuffers in a passing league. <\/p>\n Plus, it\u2019s important to note \u23af<\/p>\n Hunter draws A LOT of attention. He commands A LOT of respect. <\/p>\n 81 double-team blocks in passing situations<\/p>\n 23 double-team blocks on running plays <\/p>\n So, even when he\u2019s not making plays, he\u2019s freeing up others to make plays. <\/p>\n That will make even more of a difference. <\/p>\n #2 Lee Hunter 6-foot-4, 325 pounds <\/p>\n Daniel Kelly\u2019s Final 2026 NFL Draft Grade: First-Round (I would select him)<\/p>\n Projected by NFL Mock Draft Database to be a Second Round prospect <\/a>as of April 2, 2026<\/p>\n 2025 game film evaluated: Arkansas-Pine Bluff<\/a>, Kent State<\/a>, Oregon State<\/a>, Utah<\/a>, Houston<\/a>, Kansas<\/a>, ASU<\/a>, Oklahoma State<\/a>, Kansas State<\/a>, BYU<\/a>, UCF<\/a>, West Virginia<\/a>, BYU<\/a>, and Oregon<\/a> (click to view games watched to form this evaluation) <\/p>\n 2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report <\/p>\n Alpha brute. Man\u2019s man. Kind of a character. Rare mix of power and speed. Fiesty. Physical. Athletic. Nimble for a big man. Played in the rotation. Plays at too high a pad level as a pass rusher. Flashed rip move. Showed he\u2019s capable of splitting double teams. Sometimes flexes on opponents. Mostly a box run defender. Inconsistent shed. Did chase some plays outside.<\/p>\n Final words<\/p>\n Hunter brings a real presence to a defense. <\/p>\n Daniel Kelly is a former NFL Scout with the New York Jets. He was hired on the regime which featured Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Scott Pioli, Mike Tannenbaum, and Dick Haley. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief for\u00a0First Round Mock<\/a>, and has written for Sports Illustrated (Lions, Jets, and 49ers), NFL Draft Diamonds, and Yardbarker, as well as a featured guest on ESPN Radio and Fox Sports Radio. Featured in USA Today. For more information about him visit his website at\u00a0whateverittakesbook.com<\/a>. Follow\u00a0on Twitter @firstroundmock.<\/p>\n
Texas Tech vs. K-State (11\/1\/25) pic.twitter.com\/JdZTpmPL0v<\/a><\/p>\n