'Some Good. Some Not So Good' With Eagles Rookie Edge Rusher

Eagles third-round pick Jalyx Hunt got thrown into the deep end in Baltimore and DC Vic Fangio explained what he saw.

Philadelphia Eagles edge rusher Jalyx Hunt (58). / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA - The injuries to Brandon Graham and Bryce Huff have sped up the timetable for Jalyx Hunt, a talented developmental player with significant upside who arrived in Philadelphia as the 94th overall pick in 2024’s draft out of small-school Houston Christian.

If all went to plan, Hunt would have spent the 2024 season as the understudy in the four-man rotation of Josh Sweat, Huff, Graham, and second-year man Nolan Smith.

Through the first eight games of the season, Hunt played in only 17 defensive snaps before he was needed on Nov. 10 at Dallas, a week after Huff hurt his wrist in pre-game warmups against Jacksonville, an injury that ultimately required surgery.

When Graham suffered a season-ending torn trips at the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 24, the training wheels had to come off Hunt.

In advance of Sunday's 24-19 win at Baltimore, Philadelphia Eagles On SI asked always-blunt Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio if the rookie was ready to handle what was coming.

“We’ll find out,” Fangio said. "We'll need him to step up.”

Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

The results over a career-high 35 snaps for Hunt against the Ravens were not splashy with the rookie getting in on two tackles and sharing a 14-yard sack of Lamar Jackson with linebacker Zack Baun, a big play in the game which pushed a struggling Justin Tucker into one of his three missed kicks on the afternoon.

Pro Football Focus wasn't kind to Hunt, grading the rookie out as a sub-50.0 player and the worst Philadelphia defender with meaningful snaps in the game.

That said, Hunt also didn't look overwhelmed and did enough to help the unit limit an explosive Ravens offense. The issues from PFF's perspective were tacking, making the practice circuits very important for Hunt this week.

Fangio also admitted there were some issues on Tuesday when we circled basked and followed up on Hunt.

"Some good. Some not so good," said Fangio. "Now he's at the point where he's got to improve and build on that."

From there Fangio added some valuable context in relation to any young player.

"It's a process," the veteran DC said. "The more you practice, the more you play, you get better."

"In spite of what [Hall of Fame Philadelphia 76ers superstar] Allen Iverson ever said," Fangio joked.

A finished product takes time.

"Some guys, personnel guys around the league, they think, ‘Hey, this guy can do it. Just throw him in.’ They expect the finished product," Fangio said. "You never have the finished product with a young player until they get enough practice time and playing time."

And Hunt is going to continue to play out of necessity. In a pass/fail grading system Week 1 of the Hunt experiment got the "P" in Baltimore and is now moving on to Carolina at Lincoln Financial Field here the process will continue.

"The key will be, how does he improve?" said Fangio.

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