The Patriots got the kind of win that can tilt an AFC East race, knocking off the Bills 29-26 on Sunday, and one of the quieter reasons they walked out with it was a special teams unit getting real juice from an unlikely source.
Erick Hunter, a UDFA waiver claim who barely registered as a name when New England brought him in at the end of August, has quickly turned into one of the most useful pieces on Jeremy Springer’s unit. The rookie linebacker was an afterthought on the roster sheet. Now he’s playing like someone the Patriots can trust every week.
Hunter’s background suggests there was something here to work with. He piled up 103 tackles and five sacks for Morgan State last season, while keeping a sub-10% missed tackle rate.
He also flashed during preseason with the Lions, finishing with six tackles in 70 defensive snaps over three games and adding three more tackles in 42 special teams snaps. The grades followed the production, with strong marks on both sides of the ball.
In New England, his role has grown fast. For most of the first month, Hunter was almost a pure special teams player.
He didn’t see defensive action until Week 3, when he logged three snaps and made a tackle. Since then, he’s kept building.
Against Buffalo, he delivered four special teams tackles in 19 snaps, another strong sign that he’s settling into a core job.
That kind of work mattered in a game where the Patriots could not afford sloppy football against Josh Allen’s team. Drake Maye lost a fumble just outside the red zone, and Romeo Doubs’ low catch attempt turned into an interception. New England still found a way to win, and the special teams had a hand in that.
Hunter was right in the middle of it. The Patriots held Buffalo’s kick return average under 25 yards, and on punt coverage, he helped shut things down as well.
Greg Dortch picked up 16 yards on his first punt return of the day, but Hunter got to him before he could gain a yard late in the third quarter. Kyle Williams averaged 27.0 yards per kick return, while Marcus Jones finished with 17 yards on a punt return.
For a rookie who started the year on the fringe, that’s a pretty fast climb into the Patriots’ special teams picture.
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