Margus Hunt Analysis
 

Film analysis from Stampede Blue:

https://www.stampedeblue.com/2018/9/...a-great-scheme

Seems to be saying that Hunt is not a fluke, but rather his play is just a natural product of his unique skill set combined with a scheme that takes advantage of it. I'm interested in whether people here think this is an accurate analysis.

Right scheme, right team, right football maturity.

Don't know for how long he can keep it up but I have been delighted to see a mini-J.J. Watt with the horseshoe on his helmet. He has been exciting to watch crushing folks on the inside.

I hope he does it all season and Ballard rewards him with a 3-year contract that will take care of him for the rest of his life.

Walk Worthy,


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I like that they highlighted this play:

https://media.giphy.com/media/8L19t2...AkTU/giphy.gif

These are two veteran, multi-year NFL starters. Kelce is a Pro Bowler and All Pro. But Hunt outpositioned one and outmuscled the other, while staying even with the RB, and timed his burst perfectly to beat both blockers and make the play. Most DL cannot make that play.

We saw flashes of this last year when he played interior DL almost exclusively.

His athleticism was never an issue. As a Bengal he just didn't seem to know what to do with it most of the time.

I do think the DL movement, which we've already talked about some in other threads, is something that fits his athleticism well. Woods and Sheard, too. For his size, Sheard is a strong lineman, and I expect in his time in NE he learned a lot of tricks that he's finally able to put to use under Eberflus. We can also see now why they kept Woods, he is a blocker magnet. All three have shown they can tie up and position a blocker to put their teammate in better position to get into the backfield, whether that's another DLman on a stunt or a linebacker.

It seems to me like he's just developed enough to know what to do in a given football situation, and has the coaching and scheme in place to put him in good positions to do what he knows how to do well. Pagano had the DL doing more two gapping, reading and reacting, and while we saw some good things from him last year, I think having a bit simpler of a system and leveraging his athleticism probably suites him well.

This is something I think opposing OL will get better at addressing once we have a few more games on film, so we will see if he and the rest stay as effective as they've been so far. Scheme is good and makes players look better than they are, for a time. That is why you still need talent. So we will see just how much his development and technique have actually improved in the 2nd half of the season.

The right guy at the right place at the right time. Sometimes it just happens

I hope he keeps it up too. I’d be a bit leery of giving him a long term contract, as he’s kind of an outlier at age 31 in this defense.

Why do people worry about $$ that these guys make? If someone throws a bunch of money at him, let him go. If this D is effective with the currant DC, PAY Him!!!

Well, it is relevant with a hard salary cap, fortunately the Colts write some solid contracts.

It’s nice to see a guy with great measurables finally live up to his potential. Question is, can he maintain it and keep playing at a high level? I don’t expect him to go nuts like he has past couple games, but can he be an above average player game in and game out?

As teams get more tape on him it will be harder. I don't think he will play near this level all season, but I hope he remains a solid contributor and earns a decent payday, preferably with the Colts. I love a successful underdog story.

Wow, I forgot how fast he was. It shouldn't be possible for a 6'8" 300 pounder to run a 4.6 40. The strength, speed, and explosiveness have been on display the last few weeks, hopefully it continues.

I worry about overpaying older players because often their production falls off dramatically, and I don't want the Colts to be stuck with a large salary and very little production. Particularly Hunt, who doesn't have a long history of dominance.

Very true, though I'm not sure Ballard could get a top free agent to agree to the type of contract that Ballard has used with Hankins, Simon, etc. They'll want guarantees and other contract provisions that will make it hard for the Colts to cut them without serious cap consequences.

I'm not advocating paying Hunt. But I would like to point out, that this isn't an older player that has played a lot of snaps throughout his career.

I don’t see how you don’t pay him if he keeps playing like this. Don’t really care how old he is.

Agreed. Lots of linemen play well into their mid-30s. A 3 year contract is not a huge risk, IMO, especially with how little wear and tear is on him in relative terms.

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I'll concede you might be right, but there's definitely an increased risk as a player gets older. Here's an article I found which discusses the expected length of an NFL players career by position:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...to-nfl-players

One quote regarding defensive linemen:

"After a defensive lineman's seventh year in the NFL, his time is very, very short. Look at the huge drop-off in qualifying starters from year seven to year eight, and from year nine to year 10. The decline flattens for a while, as the best defensive linemen can stick around a very long time, but the quick development, long plateau and quick decline is obvious."

Ultimately, I guess it comes down to where this discussion began: the dollars involved.

Interesting article, but it mentions a chart that is never shows.