Hunt has spent a lot of time on the sideline - his next stop might be the unemployment line.
Ki-Jana Carter, D.J. Dozier, Blair Thomas and now Tony Hunt, whats with the Penn State Running backs. Once they make it to the NFL, it seems the turtle-like speed of the Big Ten exposes their true colors as running backs who just can’t get it done. Other then Larry Johnson I can’t think of a former Nit that has gotten significant carries in the NFL in sometime – and another one just bite the dust.
It was going to be the perfect fit, Hunt was just the guy Eagles fans wanted - a bigger running back, coming from the college that many Philadelphians’ root for who could churn out those short yardage carries and be a goal-line back. Today the school’s second all-time leading rusher was asked by the Eagles if he was interested in moving to fullback – never a good sign.
While its tough to figure out if this move suggests that the Eagles don’t like Hunt’s ability as a running back or if the other fullbacks on the roster are just that bad remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, since the Eagles allowed Thomas Tapeh to leave via free agency, they haven’t found a suitable replacement.
They have tried everything from real fullbacks, to defensive tackles and now they are trying a failed half-back. Currently, Jed Collins is listed as the number one fullback on the depth chart. Jason Davis was the favorite coming into camp and Luke Lawton was acquired prior to camp to compete for the job. And don’t forget the Birds signed Dan Klecko to tryout as their fullback, two weeks into that experiment, he was moved back to his normal position – defensive tackle.
The one thing going for Hunt here seems to be that he is a good special teams player, and that’s important to head coach Andy Reid who emphasized that he would like the player who makes the team as the fullback to be a special teams contributor.
You would have to figure that if any of the three current fullbacks impressed by now, that Hunt wouldn’t be switching position two weeks before the start of the season. On the other hand, if Hunt had impressed enough as a tailback, they wouldn’t be asking him to move either.
In the Eagles offense, the terminology for the tailback and fullback are completely different. Hunt had problems picking up the offense last season and that kept him off the field. He also had trouble blocking, another reason he sat the bench, logging just 16 carries all season.
The more disturbing thing here is, Hunt is another third round pick that was a waste. He joins guys like Ryan Moats, Matt Ware, Billy McMullen, Derrick Burgess (they let go) and Bryan Smith (who hasn’t looked good so far) as third round picks that haven’t (or won’t) help this team.
I thought Kris Wilson was originally brought in to play fullback as well but they opted against it. I think asking Hunt to play fullback indicates the team’s desire to keep him on the roster.
They want to keep him around, but thats a lot to learn in 2 weeks. He had trouble learning the play book last season, I cant see this being a good thing for him though.
Wilson is wierd, he was said to have played some FB, but they have used him there at all and havent even asked him to move there – yet. We’ll see how Hunt fares.
Forgot Curtis Enis in the list of crappy PSU halfbacks who failed bad.
About Wilson – I thought he was more like Chris Cooley in that he was an H-Back. Kind of a FB/TE hybrid?
Wilson was suppposed to be in that mold, but so far that hasn’t happened.
Maybe he forgot about Enis cause it sounds so much like…well you know.
That Wilson thing surprised me a lot. I was kinda excited when they got him, figured maybe he was playing behind Gonzalez and thats why he wasnt getting the PT….But maybe he just isnt any good.