It’s not out of the ordinary for young players who perform poorly early in their careers to improve as time goes by. It is fairly out of the ordinary for aging, bad players to suddenly become good.
Jets right tackle Wayne Hunter is 31 years old, and he has struggled in the NFL, no matter what new offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo might tell you. The Jets know Hunter has been a weak link. That’s why they tried to trade for Jeff Otah.
But Hunter maintains confidence in himself. He’s a self-believer.
Asked by Jenny Vrentas of the Newark Star-Ledger which Jets player will enjoy a breakout season in 2012, Hunter provided the following response:
“Wayne Hunter. Myself,” he said. “I put it on myself to be a breakout player this year, so we’ll make it a comeback.”
Hunter might never have even had the chance to “break out” had Otah reported to training camp healthy and established himself as the Jets’ new right tackle. But Otah failed his physical to open camp, and the trade is in danger of being reversed.
In which case, Hunter would have every opportunity to asset himself as a breakout player.
We just wouldn’t like his chances of delivering.