Lee Hunter 2026 NFL draft prospect profile, grades, rank, measurements

Texas Tech fielded one of the more ferocious defensive fronts in college football in the 2025 season. Defensive tackle Lee Hunter was the anchor in the middle of the front that had David Bailey and Romello Height rushing from the edges.

Hunter was a four-star prospect coming of of high school in Alabama and played three years at the University of Central Florida before transferring to Texas Tech for his senior season. Hunter has played over 1,800 snaps in his college career beginning as a rotational player as a true freshman and becoming a full time starter in his sophomore season.

Hunter is a massive human being and he plays appropriately. Hunter will eat double teams and create traffic jams in rushing lanes by refusing to be moved off of his spot. He plays the majority of his snaps line up as a zero or one technique defensive tackle, lining up over the center or shading the center to the A-gaps.

Hunter may be a space eating monster in the middle of the defensive line, but he has upside as a pass rusher. He has a sudden and explosive burst when finishing and ball carriers and quarterbacks are often caught by surprise by his closing speed,

Seeing Lee Hunter break free up the middle must be like seeing a bear charge 🤣
Hunter seems to have slimmed down over the season as he looks quicker at the Senior bowl but he closes quick here for a sack. pic.twitter.com/KEkzAeODPO
— Thomas Martinez (@BoltsDraftTalk) January 28, 2026

Hunter showed up to the senior bowl , the premier all-star game for the pre-draft process, in apparent great shape and dominated the first day of practice. His performance against his peers will not go unnoticed in a class searching for for the top interior defensive lineman as grades are finalized.

Measurables

Name: Lee Hunter
Height/weight/class: 6'3.5 320lbs, defensive tackle, Senior
Awards: 2025 Second-team All-American, First-Team All-Big 12

What Lee Hunter does well

Texas Tech defensive lineman Lee Hunter — Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Establishes leverage quickly nearly becoming immovable off of the line of scrimmage
Surprisingly nimble for such a large defender, showing the ability to follow ball carriers and jump to the next gap
Absorbs double teams with his wide frame and strong anchor
Finishes and punishes ball carriers into the ground

Where Lee Hunter can improve

Need to clean up technique and lean into hand fighting as he is too reliant on his size to occupy space
Improve explosion off of the snap to drive the pocket back to increase value on pass rushing downs

Grade, position rank, expected draft round

Grade: B
Position rank: #4 Interior defensive lineman
Expected draft round: Third

Summary

Lee Hunter possesses the size and power to be an immediate contributor in the NFL. He needs to continue to work on his craft and develop techniques to handle the matching power of NFL interior offensive lineman. His ability to two-gap and occupy blockers will be valuable early in his career.