Defensive Tackle Lee Hunter Moves the Meter

Texas Tech defensive tackle Lee Hunter is a big, wide, powerful, athletic, and violent man.

He’s not just another big body to plug into the interior of a defensive line.

No…

Hunter can move.

He’s deceptively quick, especially once he’s into a gap and he has the quarterback or a running back in his crosshairs.

I’ll admit ⎯

It surprised me when I first started seeing him make plays.

Why’s that?

Because at first glance, I didn’t think he’d be able to move like that. He looked top-heavy. Not to be funny, but he’s built like an oversized whiskey barrel with long arms and legs.

But then he moved, and my eyebrows went up.

I was like, “Wow.”

Not only could he move ⎯

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.

25 pressures (Pro Football Focus)

10.5 tackles for loss (Sports-Reference.com)

The numbers don’t lie.

Neither did the film.

What did Hunter look like on film?

As a pass rusher ⎯

By trade ⎯

Hunter is a gap shooter.

Sure, he has the pure power to put an offensive guard on skates and drive him back into the quarterback’s 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.

Either way.

Once he gets into the pocket ⎯

Lookout!

He quickly builds speed and momentum. He really accelerates toward the quarterback.

How does he look playing the run?

Hunter is a space eater who’s hard to move out of the way. Sometimes he wins, and sometimes he doesn’t.

But, he holds his own.

Biggest concerns?

• Inconsistency
• Wavering effort level when he stalls out

In 14 games, I notated 34 pass plays and 40 run plays when Hunter stood out on film. That’s an average of 2.43 pass plays per game and 2.85 run plays per game.

Per Pro Football Focus, Hunter played in 523 snaps total in 2025 (37.4 per game average).

What’s holding him back?

He’s still raw as a pass rusher. He looks like he’s still trying to figure it out.

Scary thought.

While the couple of pass rush moves he uses work pretty well, it’s only a couple of pass rush moves (and they weren’t used all that much overall). If blockers can stop him before he gets going, they stop him. The other thing is, once he’s stopped, he doesn’t show a secondary pass rush plan. He just puts himself into checkmate.

NFL projection

Here’s the reality ⎯

Getting a defensive lineman like this on a rookie contract is going to be very enticing to some playoff-caliber team (18-32). That’s 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.

Plus, it’s important to note ⎯

Hunter draws A LOT of attention. He commands A LOT of respect.

• 81 double-team blocks in passing situations
• 23 double-team blocks on running plays

So, even when he’s not making plays, he’s freeing up others to make plays.

That will make even more of a difference.

#2 Lee Hunter 6-foot-4, 325 pounds

Daniel Kelly’s Final 2026 NFL Draft Grade: First-Round (I would select him)

Projected by NFL Mock Draft Database to be a Second Round prospect as of April 2, 2026

2025 game film evaluated: Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Kent State, Oregon State, Utah, Houston, Kansas, ASU, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, BYU, UCF, West Virginia, BYU, and Oregon (click to view games watched to form this evaluation)

2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Alpha brute. Man’s 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’s capable of splitting double teams. Sometimes flexes on opponents. Mostly a box run defender. Inconsistent shed. Did chase some plays outside.

Final words

Hunter brings a real presence to a defense.

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 First Round Mock, 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 whateverittakesbook.com. Follow on Twitter @firstroundmock.