Seahawks 90-Man Countdown: C Joey Hunt - Third Entrant in Starting Competition?

A seasoned veteran with starting experience in seven NFL seasons, Joey Hunt returned to the Seattle Seahawks last year after three years in Indianapolis as an insurance signing and once again will compete for a roster spot at the pivot position as an underdog.

Author:
Corbin K. Smith
Publish date:
Jun 19, 2023 8:20 PM EDT

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Seattle Seahawks

With the calendar flipping to June and offseason activities wrapping up league-wide, the Seattle Seahawks will open training camp at the VMAC in less than two months, officially ushering in the 2023 season.

To celebrate the new incoming season, we'll be detailing every member of the Seahawks 90-man roster over the next several weeks, exploring best and worst case scenarios and what to expect from each player entering the 2023 campaign.

Joey Hunt, Center

Height/Weight: 6-2, 299 pounds

2022 Stats: N/A

Originally drafted by the Seahawks in the sixth round out of TCU in 2016, Hunt only played in 20 games and made three starts in his first three NFL seasons. But after starting center Justin Britt went down with a torn ACL midway through the 2019 season, he stepped in as his replacement and filled in admirably, allowing only one sack and three pressures in eight regular season starts. He managed to play at the level despite battling through a fractured fibula over the final month of the season, including a playoff win over the Eagles.

Despite being re-signed in April 2020, Hunt was released by Seattle before the start of training camp, latching on with Indianapolis' practice squad. He played in one game during two-plus seasons with the Colts before re-signing with the Seahawks practice squad last October and returned on a future/reserve deal in January.

Best-Case Scenario: Making the most of his second stint in Seattle, Hunt surprisingly pushes rookie Olu Oluwatimi and free agent signing Evan Brown for snaps with the first team offense early in training camp and though he winds up getting waived at the end of the preseason, he returns as an experienced insurance policy on the practice squad.

Worst-Case Scenario: Continuing to struggle holding up physically against stronger interior defensive linemen, Hunt gets rag-dolled throughout training camp and while the coaching staff holds him in high regard, he's released in late August and isn't picked up by another team.

What to Expect in 2023: As a former late day three selection, Hunt has had a far more successful NFL career than most sixth-round picks, especially considering his lack of size for the center position at under 300 pounds. While he has only played in one game over the past three seasons, he's managed to stick around in the league for more than half a decade and the Seahawks have always valued his leadership intangibles and toughness.

But while Hunt deserves praise for carving out a lengthy NFL career and starting a handful of games in the process, even with Carroll mentioning him as part of the competition to replace Austin Blythe, the center battle looks to be a two-horse race between Brown and Oluwatimi. Barring an injury to one of those players, it's difficult to envision the veteran sticking around after spending most of the past three years on practice squads and at 29 years of age, if he's released at the end of camp, he may be nearing the end of the line with a potential coaching gig in his future.

Previous Seahawks 90-Man Profiles