Eagles Edge Rusher Assesses His First Season As A Starter

PHILADELPHIA – When they come, they’ll come in bunches. That’s what every edge rusher says when sacks have been hard to come by, and for the Eagles they have been hard to come by. Like a wayward traveler lost in the desert, they’re parched.

“We’re gonna get the sacks, but it doesn’t increase anything (such as urgency or trying too hard),” said Jalyx Hunt. “We want them real bad and we’ve always wanted them real bad, but you just have to be in the right place, working the right rushes, so you just have to chip away at it.”

Hunt has played more snaps than any edge rusher on the team, logging 165 (65 percent). Nolan Smith would lead in that department, but he was placed on injured reserve last week.

Perhaps too much was expected too soon of Hunt. He was considered a project by many after being a surprise third-round pick two years ago, and was a safety when his college career began, doing it in the Ivy League at Cornell. He grew and kept growing until he became an edge rusher and transferred to small-school Houston Christian.

He came on strong at the end of his rookie season, collecting 1.5 sacks in the playoffs to put on top of the 1.5 he had in the regular season for a total of three. He was the fourth or fifth player on the team’s depth chart as a rookie, but he was elevated to a starter with the retirement of Brandon Graham and the free agency departure of Josh Sweat.

Jalyx Hunt Assesses His Season

This season, he has 11 quarterback pressures with seven tackles and no sacks. He is a work-in-progress, but a promising one at that.

Asked on Friday how he thought he was playing, he said, “Not too bad. There’s definitely some things I want to improve on, but just come in every day and get to work. Nothing’s really gonna change except I’ll get better. I just want to slowly go up, and I don’t have to shoot to the top immediately. I want to see improvements each week.”

The Eagles are intent on growing with Hunt until the sacks come. The team has just five going into Week 5. It’s one of the lowest totals in the league. They will get a close-up look at the top sacking defense in the NFL when the Denver Broncos visit South Philly on Sunday. The Broncos have 15, with outside linebacker Nik Bonitto leading their crew with 4.5.

The Eagles top sacker is Moro Ojomo with two. The outside linebackers don’t have anyone who was in camp this summer with the Eagles. Za’Darius Smith, signed the day after the season opener, has a half-sack. That’s it from the outside guys.

“So much has to go into one play for someone to get a sack,” said Ojomo. In the scheme of things, how valuable is a sack? Well, they can certainly affect a game and remember how much fun that 2022 defense was that piled up 70 sacks.

“Sacks come in bunches,” said Hunt. “We just have to continue to chip away at it. We’re winning rushes. We just have to continue to win, so when those times arrive and everything aligns, it’s gonna be a glorious day. But nah, it’s not a concern at all.”

More NFL: Eagles' Reigning Defensive Player Of The Week Has Broncos' Attention