Hunt Played Through Fractured Fibula?

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The article gives Adam Rank's take on each team's unsung hero. In it, he lists for us Joey Hunt; saying he played on a fractured fibula since week 9. I know he's undersized and I don't ever see him being a true starting NFL center, but knowing he was playing through something like that and still performed adequately most of the time says alot about how much he really gives out there on every play (not that anyone doubted his heart or tenacity).

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: Joey Hunt, center. Everyone celebrated the return of Marshawn Lynch to the Seahawks, but some of the success of the running game in 2019 -- including the great campaign Chris Carson put together before being lost with a hip injury in Week 16 -- could be attributed to what Hunt was able to do up front. Hunt, working on a one-year deal, started eight games at center after taking over for Justin Britt, who was lost for the season with an ACL tear in Week 8. But what's more incredible is that Hunt suffered a fracture in his fibula in Week 9 and continued to play through it for the rest of the year.

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Yeah, he's done a lot for this team, and is a must keep as far as I'm concerned.

One has to wonder, would he have played better if healthy? The worst game I saw him have was against Fletcher Cox, and everybody has a bad game against Fletcher Cox.

Everybody says "He's too small," but he's not much different (6'2' 299#) than Jeff Saturday (6'2" 295#) in size. I think a lot has to do with core strength and experience. I doubt Saturday started out as a Pro Bowler.

Not saying Joey will ever get there, but knowing how much pain he must have been playing through, and with different players on either side of him every other week, he did a hell of job.

kidhawk":2iufy5ec said:

[urltargetblank]http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001098375/article/nfc-unsung-heroes-allen-robinson-vonn-bell-outpaced-buzz[/urltargetblank]

The article gives Adam Rank's take on each team's unsung hero. In it, he lists for us Joey Hunt; saying he played on a fractured fibula since week 9. I know he's undersized and I don't ever see him being a true starting NFL center, but knowing he was playing through something like that and still performed adequately most of the time says alot about how much he really gives out there on every play (not that anyone doubted his heart or tenacity).

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: Joey Hunt, center. Everyone celebrated the return of Marshawn Lynch to the Seahawks, but some of the success of the running game in 2019 -- including the great campaign Chris Carson put together before being lost with a hip injury in Week 16 -- could be attributed to what Hunt was able to do up front. Hunt, working on a one-year deal, started eight games at center after taking over for Justin Britt, who was lost for the season with an ACL tear in Week 8. But what's more incredible is that Hunt suffered a fracture in his fibula in Week 9 and continued to play through it for the rest of the year.

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Why I am in the resign camp, not only did he had a broken leg, but the last game in GB he had multiple finger dislocations, the first one the staff snapped back in the rest he was doing in the huddle between plays or when they went back to the sidelines.

This is Jack Youngblood type of heroics .

After Britt went down, Hunt played (and the line) better. Too bad the injury happened in his second start. If healthy it would have done a lot to help the run game. Can't image that driving an opponent felt good with that leg. Tough dude, and helluva team first guy.

Hunt is a good guy I was happy when we got him. But I think it would be more accurate to say our opponents played through his injured fibula. Guy spent more time on his heels than a horse with navicular.

The question of resigning Hunt comes down to what you think of Britt. Britt is an obvious cap casualty candidate, and cutting him saves you 8.5M. He is a better run blocker that is more physically imposing; whereas, Hunt is a better pass blocker who is prone to getting blown up once or twice a game. There is no question Britt is the better all around player, but if you can get Hunt at 2-4M/year is it worth keeping Britt at 11.5M/year?

Kind of feels like you are better off rolling the dice on Hunt, unless you can get Britt to restructure.

Britt is (IMHO) gone...cap casualty. That means hopefully re-sign Hunt on a friendly deal and draft a center, and keep working with Haynes and Roos (both of whom were working at center during the season). Pocic is another candidate, having played some center in college...hopefully he looks better there than he has at Guard or Tackle.

Nick Harris or a later pick on Jake Hansen would be interesting draft choices.

Britt can test the market, but I'd be surprised that any team pays $12M+ for a mid-range center who just got hurt.

I think Britt gets released, then re-signed for a lower price.

It'll come down to how much the league believes in Hunt. If he doesn't have much of a market and you can bring him back for 2-4m it's a no brainer. If his market is higher than there's more to think about.

Britt will be restructured or cut in my opinion. Personally, my goal would try to keep both Britt and Hunt for close to Britt's 11.4m expected cap hit in 2020. Something like extending Britt 2 more years dropping his cap hit to 8m and signing hunt to about 3m (similar deal to what we gave Fluker, 2yr 6m).

ivotuk":46f9v2cx said:

Yeah, he's done a lot for this team, and is a must keep as far as I'm concerned.

One has to wonder, would he have played better if healthy? The worst game I saw him have was against Fletcher Cox, and everybody has a bad game against Fletcher Cox.

Everybody says "He's too small," but he's not much different (6'2' 299#) than Jeff Saturday (6'2" 295#) in size. I think a lot has to do with core strength and experience. I doubt Saturday started out as a Pro Bowler.

Not saying Joey will ever get there, but knowing how much pain he must have been playing through, and with different players on either side of him every other week, he did a hell of job.

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Jeff Saturday is who comes to my mind when I hear the name Joey Hunt. Joey is so smart and possesses so much grit. He would have thrived in a Payton Manning offense. I'm following his career to see what offense Joey ends up in come year five.

FYI....after the Colts won the SB(2006) until Manning left the team, the Colts had a terrible running game(one of the worse in the NFL)...they only paid "lip-service" to the run in order to keep the defense honest. Manning also rarely threw deep during this period(Harrison was gone, but they still had Wayne) because he had no time, it was mostly quick crossing routes. D-linemen complained that even if they were not blocked, they could not get to Manning in time to sack him.

If you are trying to compare Hunt to Saturday, that type of center might work if you have an offense that does not focus on the run and has a passing game based on the QB getting the ball out of his hands ASAP. If your offense wants to develop the run and has a QB that hangs onto the ball and likes the deep pass...you are not going to want a center like Saturday.

Thus the stated intrigue with what kind of offense Joey might find himself best suited for when it comes time for his second contract. I'm just trying to express it with sufficient finesse in hopes of avoiding setting off an "Anthony!" style outburst. :biggthumpup:

I appreciate his grit and determination, but he gets trucked all the time. Yes, he was exposed against Philly, but it happened against the Niners. DJ Jones, ran over him too.

Like most, I think the team will restructure Britts contract.

And, the team has two other centers on the roster that no ones talking about. Pocic and Kyle Fuller. Both are under club control next year and Pocic played C at LSU. Yes, he played all positions, but he spent most of his time at C. The team also moved Fuller from the PS to the 53 to protect him. He’s listed at 6-5 320.

reddmmann":38eikjv9 said:

FYI....after the Colts won the SB(2006) until Manning left the team, the Colts had a terrible running game(one of the worse in the NFL)...they only paid "lip-service" to the run in order to keep the defense honest. Manning also rarely threw deep during this period(Harrison was gone, but they still had Wayne) because he had no time, it was mostly quick crossing routes. D-linemen complained that even if they were not blocked, they could not get to Manning in time to sack him.

If you are trying to compare Hunt to Saturday, that type of center might work if you have an offense that does not focus on the run and has a passing game based on the QB getting the ball out of his hands ASAP. If your offense wants to develop the run and has a QB that hangs onto the ball and likes the deep pass...you are not going to want a center like Saturday.

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This is fairly accurate. None of their Offensive Linemen were any good, so they had to get rid of the ball quickly. And as Peyton got older, the short routes were better for him. Plus, he was elite at confusing opposing defenses, and knowing where the ball was going before hand.

I was watching that show with Tony Dungy on it, and there was a play where Peyton pointed to his left towards a DB, and yelled something. You could see the DB perk up, and shifted where he was.

Dungy started laughing ahead of time, knowing that Peyton just moved that DB and confused him. Dungy said that a lot of the calls that Manning made at the line were "Dummy Calls" that the offense ignored. But the defense didn't, because they were the same calls Peyton had used the week before for a certain play. Completely fooled the defense who naturally had watched the film from the previous week.

But about Jeff Saturday. If he's stout enough, he's got the natural leverage, the same way Poona does. And, NFL players voted him to the Pro Bowl. There had to be a reason for that.

Maybe Hunt could get up to speed as a long snapper. The guy we have for that is getting pretty long in the tooth, amirite?

After I got T-boned on my motorcycle I tried like hell to rehab enough to get back to kung-fu. For two years I worked out on the exercise bike and the weight stuff at the Y, but I could never get above 150 lbs with my bad leg doing one-leg presses. That's when they figured out (preparing for another operation on it for a different reason) that my fibula had actually 'healed' into 2 separate pieces. So I know a little of what he was going through - I couldn't even do martial arts like that, let alone try and push 300 lb nose tackles backwards!

nwHawk":12e622fa said:

After Britt went down, Hunt played (and the line) better.

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No, he didn't. He was routinely getting physically overmatched and pushed back into his QB, or down into the turf.

I've had that injury. Didn't know it was broken, officially, for a couple of weeks. Not weight bearing bone, so there isn't anything you can do for it. It's extremely painful however when your foot is planted and there is any rotational torque on your knee joint. I still reffed basketball and even played some softball on it, but I couldn't imagine playing a football game with it. Specially in the trenches where guys are constantly falling into your legs.

GeekHawk":3d4gvkbn said:

After I got T-boned on my motorcycle I tried like hell to rehab enough to get back to kung-fu. For two years I worked out on the exercise bike and the weight stuff at the Y, but I could never get above 150 lbs with my bad leg doing one-leg presses. That's when they figured out (preparing for another operation on it for a different reason) that my fibula had actually 'healed' into 2 separate pieces. So I know a little of what he was going through - I couldn't even do martial arts like that, let alone try and push 300 lb nose tackles backwards!

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Geek I see a new injury everytime you post just about.
Always about the bike..
Please get rid of it..Fate has spoken . :irishdrinkers:

IndyHawk":2n2043uj said:

GeekHawk":2n2043uj said:

After I got T-boned on my motorcycle I tried like hell to rehab enough to get back to kung-fu. For two years I worked out on the exercise bike and the weight stuff at the Y, but I could never get above 150 lbs with my bad leg doing one-leg presses. That's when they figured out (preparing for another operation on it for a different reason) that my fibula had actually 'healed' into 2 separate pieces. So I know a little of what he was going through - I couldn't even do martial arts like that, let alone try and push 300 lb nose tackles backwards!

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Geek I see a new injury everytime you post just about.
Always about the bike..
Please get rid of it..Fate has spoken . :irishdrinkers:

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Nah. I have a tattoo for the bikes I've totaled (the company logo with a diagonal red slash through it, each below the one before it, 3 so far) and there's still room on my upper arm for a couple more. :mrgreen:

Edit - to be fair, I've averaged less than one per decade since #1... Though it's been 15 years since the last :shock: