Eagles 3rd-Round Draft Pick OLB Jaylx Hunt

Q. Hey Jalyx, how is it going?

JALYX HUNT: Going great. I’m an eagle. (Laughter.)

Q. Welcome to Philadelphia. What went behind that decision to go from safety to edge rusher and what went into that to prepare yourself to do that? (Chris Franklin)

JALYX HUNT: Thank you. Growing, honestly. I was a late bloomer. I played receiver coming out of high school. Played DB. I grew into my body some more, so when I transferred to Houston Christian it was a natural progression.

Q. Congratulations, man. Take me through the physical change that your body underwent from being a sub-200 pound receiver and safety to now a 250 pound edge rusher? (Dave Zangaro)

JALYX HUNT: A lot of weight. A lot of weight lifting. Buying into the programs my coaches have prescribed to me. A lot of eating. More eating. I like a lot of food, but it’s a lot of eating to go put on this much weight.

So I had to get used to that, so it was kind of just overall working out perspective and eating.

Q. What were your go-to foods when you were trying to put on the weight? (Dave Zangaro)

JALYX HUNT: Chicken and rice. You can’t go wrong. Chicken and rice and broccoli. Can’t go wrong.

Q. You had such an interesting story going to Ivy League and Cornell at first and then ending up Houston Christian. How did that manifest itself in making that change? (John McMullen)

JALYX HUNT: I got to Ivy League, didn’t know too much about it, but I was recruited out of high school to play safety, the X position up there. It was the best opportunity for me. Ivy League is known for its education and I saw the opportunity to get a world class education as well as play high level of football.

I got up there. Just wasn’t the right environment for me. I thought in order to further my career, I needed to make a switch. So when I hit the transfer portal, Huskies came calling, HCU, at the time HBU came calling, and that’s how I ended up there.

Q. How much pre-draft interaction did you have with the Eagles? You seem pretty excited to be coming to the Eagles. How much do you know about them? (Ed Kracz)

JALYX HUNT: Man, I’m extremely excited to be coming to the Eagles. I was luckily blessed to be invited for a 30 visit. I was able to meet everyone and see the whole facility and understand the vibe of just the place I’m going to be working now.

But it’s hard to watch football and not know about the Eagles. They have a rich history of just winning and being successful. Great players have come through. Hall of Fame players have come through. They have a couple now who are on their way.

And seems like the Eagles always have a hand in creating great players and always have a great team. It’s just overall great organization and franchise.

Q. Are you okay being a project, kind of being a long-term thing, or do you feel like you’re ready to contribute, get in here and be a part of things and contribute right away? Are you a patient guy when it comes to waiting your turn and developing as a player? (Reuben Frank)

JALYX HUNT: Yeah, I’m ready to do whatever I need to do for the team. In the press conference last night I was called like the perfect developmental player, which is a huge honor to me, they see a lot of upside and its something I’m excited to grow into. I’m definitely patient enough to put in the work and do what I need to do in order to reach my potential.

But if there is any way I can contribute out of the gate, I’m willing to do it. I’m all for it.

Q. Coming from a smaller program, what did you think it was that you did that made — that put you on the NFL scouting radar and got you invited to the Senior Bowl and the combine? (Jeff McLane)

JALYX HUNT: Man, you obviously have to produce. I had a really good season my first year switching to the defensive edge position, hybrid position. That kind of got the eyes on me.

Then this past year I played outside linebacker. When you watch my film you see things that you can’t really coach. You see my flying to the ball. I’m a great teammate. You can understand that by coming through and talking to different coaches and players that I’ve played with.

You see a guy who has a high motor who’s versatile, can play special teams. So I think all of those in culmination got me the looks here and got me to this position today.

Q. Kind of along those lines, when in your mind did you think that you were an NFL type of player? Was it like when you were still a safety or was it after you switched to edge rusher? When did that all come about, when you figured, hey I could make it to the NFL? (Martin Frank)

JALYX HUNT: It’s always been a mindset. You always have to — you don’t just get here by accident. You have to be very intentional with what you do. I always felt as if I could be an NFL player. Whatever position I was at.

But it really hit me when I got to the Senior Bowl and was training with guys in the pre-draft training process who now I’m seeing go off the board and I’m able to call them and super excited to see that their future is continuing.

So it was really — it’s always been a goal of mine and something I’ve seen myself doing. But it didn’t really hit until I got to the Senior Bowl, pre-draft process type time.

Q. So it never was a situation where during the season at Houston Christian you were like, oh, man, I can play in the NFL? Were people talking about that with you at that point? (Martin Frank)

JALYX HUNT: Yeah, definitely had scouts coming through, but to a certain degree, scouts can’t do much for you. Scouts can’t draft you yet. It was encouraging to see the scouts come out there and definitely made me work harder and get excited for the possibility of playing.

But when I was put into positions to talk with coaches and meet GMs and everything, it really became a tangible goal, way more tangible.

Q. Going back to this 30 visit, what was your initial interactions with Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio? What type of stuff did you guys talk to? Did he tell you is his vision for you if they were to select you? (Chris Franklin)

JALYX HUNT: No. We just talked football, man. It wasn’t anything too specific. Really just sat down and talked about my story. I got to know him a little bit just through his mind, understanding how he sees football. He’s a legend when it comes to coaching.

So to be able to watch some film of myself and then get some coaching from him, just get the break down of different ways I could attack tackles or what I could have done better in the situation, we were really just talking football. No specific scheme things or anything like that.

Q. Who are the edge rushers who excite you and maybe that you might remind us of? (Bob Brookover)

JALYX HUNT: Getting up to this point being [New York Giants DE] Brian Burns has always been the person I watched. Now I’m in a room with people who can really help me.

But getting to this point it’s been Brian Burns. He was a long guy, high motor, very athletic, high IQ. I really liked to pattern my game after him. He’s been very successful in the league, and if I can bring that to the Eagles and contribute to the team I think it will be a great goal of mine to do that.

Q. Jalyx, just curious, very unique first name. I don’t know if there is a history to that name. Secondly, where did you watch the draft and who are you with? What was it like when the call came in? (Ed Kracz)

JALYX HUNT: So my mom came up with my name. There is no history behind it really. Everybody in my family’s name starts with a J and my mom’s favorite cologne/perfume is called Calyx, so since everyone in the family’s name starts with a J, I just became Jalyx. It’s odd enough because I really love cologne. Maybe that — maybe that manifested into me loving cologne, I have no clue.

I am in Houston right now. I watched it here. I got a nice Airbnb. I’m actually here right now. Family is inside. I just stepped out for a little bit.

Yeah, I watched it here in Houston so I could have my teammates around me, my coach, my head coach, just to say thank you to him. It’s a long process. A lot of things go into this, and to have everybody in this one place to support me and so they can celebrate this moment with me was huge.

Man, the call was crazy. You know, everybody wants to sneak into that second day so they can just be over with. It’s a lot of anxiety and a lot of nerves going into it.

So I’m watching everybody go. I’m super excited for the people I know. I am texting them, calling them. I walked inside for a minute to get some water. Set my phone down. Ringer is up. All the way up. Got to keep it up.

But I set my phone down, turned around to get some water, and my cousin said your phone is ringing. I looked at my phone, saw the Philadelphia number and picked it up, and it was crazy. You know when you get that call, especially in the Draft Day party everybody is on edge. So they’re staring at me to see, so I gestured everybody to walk outside.

Felt like probably — it was probably like five minutes but it felt like 30 just waiting to hear my name called. It was a great experience. Something I will never forget. We jumped into this pool. I had my suit on. A lot of my friends jumped in too with me, family. So it was a super exciting moment. Something I will never forget, something I’m forever grateful for.