Coming into the season there weren't very many starting spots up for grabs on this Eagles team. In fact, if you assume like I do that Stewart Bradley won his starting job last year there really was only one job was likely to see a new starter.
Fullback.
When the Eagles allowed Thomas Tapeh to walk at the end of the year they stocked the fullback position with a host of possibilites with the idea that they'd let the best man win. Jason Davis was already ont he practice squad, UDFA Jed Collins was brought, Dan Klekco was signed as a free agent, and Luke Lawton was traded for.
In the end though, the guy who the job was one who wasn't even in the running 3 weeks ago. Tony Hunt.
"Obviously, he's going to be the guy," the general manager said. "He's the only fullback on the roster, so he's going to get a lot of opportunities here, and we'll see how he does.
"We're expecting him to be a top, top guy, and that's going to take some time," Heckert went on. "But I think he's going to be a serviceable guy for us from the beginning of the season. If that wasn't the case, we wouldn't have kept him."
When he first got the news Hunt sounded like the switch from RB to FB was a daunting one, but his tune seemed to change
"I just didn't want people thinking this was going to be easy," he said. "It was one of those things in the preseason, going out there, I knew I was going to make some mistakes. But I know myself, and I think I'm a fast learner. Just going out in a couple of games is enough to actually go out, make some mistakes, learn from them and be ready to go."
Tony thinks it was his special teams play that really sealed the deal for him
"There was a major emphasis put on special teams this year, and I think that was the area where I improved most," Hunt said. "At the end of the day, everything is still just football. Running, blocking and just being physical and just wanting to do it . . . if you've played football, you've tackled somebody before. You can get it done."
Best of luck to former Nittany Lion. When he lines up as the starting fullback this Sunday, he's going to have most of the state of Pennsylvania pulling for him.