Finding Broncos: Scouting Texas Tech NT Lee Hunter

Finding Broncos is back. It's draft season, and we're breaking down the coming class with individual scouting reports.

Today, we're breaking down a very intriguing nose tackle who could be in play for the Denver Broncos, depending on how the board falls.

Background

Texas Tech was Hunter's last stop, after initially going to Auburn and then to UCF, where he played over 1,300 snaps. He had a big impact in both the run game and pass rush, but the transfer to Texas Tech helped take his game to another level.

Stats

In his lone year at Texas Tech, Hunter played 523 snaps, with 195 as a run defender and 328 as a pass rusher. He picked up 26 pressures with five sacks, while adding 25 stops.

Hunter had a 12.4% pressure rate through the B gap and a 4.2% tackle-for-a-loss rate against the run, both in the top 15%.

Pros

Lee Hunter at the Senior Bowl. | Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Hunter is a massive nose who can plug two gaps without having to move, due to a 6-foot-9 wingspan. He knows how to use that size, both in anchoring at the point of attack, controlling gaps, and muddying up pass lanes.

There is also immense power to Hunter's game, which makes him such a handful to block in one-on-one situations. For being as big as he is, there is surprising quickness off the snap to shoot through gaps and make a play.

Hunter also does a solid job of getting small to squeeze through gaps when making a play. Working laterally isn’t a clear weakness for him, unlike for many other nose tackles, given his size and build.

Hunter has good technique for taking on double teams, the strength to split them, and great recovery if the double gets him early. With his size and strength, he will face a lot of double teams at the NFL level, which could help his teammates by creating openings. His impact will easily go beyond the box score.

Blockers have a hard time anchoring against Hunter's bull rush because of the strength he has to toss blockers to the side. His pass-rush ability centers around that initial quickness off the snap, and the power behind his bull rush to get blockers on their heels or toss them aside.

Cons

There needs to be a technical buildup, as Hunter has a bad habit of relying on size and strength, and if he meets his match, he gets shut down. He also plays with a forward lean that opens up the door for snatch technique to get him on the ground, which happened to him during the Senior Bowl a few times.

While Hunter has initial quickness with his first step to catch blockers off guard, there isn’t sustained quickness to his game. He will be limited defensively as a result and get pulled off the field in passing situations.

There isn’t much to work with besides the bull rush as a pass rusher, which is fine if Hunter gets caught on the field, but not desirable for a three-down defender. That's expected for a nose tackle, so it's not a significant detriment to his evaluation.

Hunter will need to clean up his build, as he has a lot of bad weight, which can throw off his balance. Overall, he has the physical traits to be a dominant nose tackle, but his technical aspects are far behind, as has been illustrated throughout the draft process.

Fit With the Broncos

Denver has re-signed both D.J. Jones and Malcolm Roach as their nose tackles over the past 13 months, but with the way their contracts are set, Jones could be let go after 2026 and Roach after 2027. Hunter could still have a role as a rookie two-gapper while developing to take over for Jones as the primary run-defending nose tackle in 2027.

Grade

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