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With Cincinnati returning its entire defensive line from last season and arguably boasting the most depth its seen since 2012, Hunt has some work to do to ensure he is not crowded out come the end of August. The 6-foot-8, 290-pound Estonian former track and field standout doesn’t use inexperience as an excuse but his time could be running out.
“I’m a grown man,” said Hunt, a world juniors discus and shot put gold medalist who picked up football when Southern Methodist University dropped its track and field program after he arrived on campus. “I need to pick all this up in a hurry and be ready to play. I know I can play and contribute to this defense. I’m just excited to put the pads on.”
Right now, during the Bengals’ no-pads offseason workouts, the focus is just on improving technique and positioning, but the next two months could be especially important for Hunt before the Bengals start making roster decisions during the preseason.
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The team wraps up minicamp Thursday, then takes a six-week break before training camp begins at the end of July.
“It is what it is,” Hunt said before Day 2 of minicamp Wednesday at Paul Brown Stadium. “All I can do is control what I do out there on the field and take advantage of those snaps I get during practice. I feel really good during the spring, so I just need to keep working on it and need to capitalize on it.”
Defensive end Carlos Dunlap said Hunt has grown in terms of his football IQ and has fixed many of the mistakes he was making earlier in the his career.
Hunt has “shown flashes,” according to defensive coordinator Paul Guenther, but needs to be more consistent, especially in the pass rush. Hunt played just five percent of the snaps on defense last year in part because of injury that sidelined him the first seven games, but his biggest contributions came on special teams, where he was a force in college.
The 2013 second-round draft pick blocked 17 kicks during his career at SMU, including an NCAA-record 10 field goals. He played 104 snaps on special teams last season, but Guenther needs to know if Hunt can be a bigger factor on defense.
"He just has to do it consistently, and he's got to stay healthy," Guenther said. "That's been his biggest issue is as soon as we get him up and running, something happens and I can't remember how long he was down and then it's like starting all over again when he gets back, so that makes it difficult."
It’s also difficult to evaluate a player in limited snaps, but Guenther said backups like Hunt and fellow fourth-year defensive end Will Clarke have to make the most of the time they get on the field to earn more snaps. Guenther said both those players will be used early in preseason games to assess how they stack up against first-team offenses, but Hunt specifically needs to “prove he can help” in the defensive line rotation.
“He’s got to do something here quickly — in the preseason especially,” Guenther said. “Right now, D-linemen can’t rush so it’s hard to say. They’re in shorts. There are no pads on. (Come August), he’s one of those guys we have to find out if he can do it.”
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