Tennessee Titans safety Bernard Pollard believes in troubled rookie Justin Hunter
By Jason Marcum
Tennessee Titans rookie wide receiver Justin Hunter has the talent and potential to eventually become a #1 WR, but his lack of maturity and inability to grasp certain concepts of the game has driven his coaches and teammates insane.
Despite Hunter’s shortcomings in his transition to become an NFL player, Titans safety Bernard Pollard isn’t losing faith in the troubled-but-talented receiver:
"“When Justin realizes he can go in there and single-handedly destroy a defense, I think this team is going to be in for something,’’ Pollard said. “And we need Justin Hunter to perform now, we can’t wait. Because we are chasing that Lombardi Trophy and he’s the kind of guy who could help us get it.”"
Pollard even said Hunter reminds him of Bengals All-Pro receiver A.J. Green, which ironically isn’t the first time Hunter has drawn that comparison. Hunter took the SEC and college football by storm during his freshman season at Tennessee. As a true freshman in 2010, Hunter started two of 13 games and had 16 receptions for 415 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging a team-leading 25.9 yards per catch.
In 2011, Hunter started the first three games before tearing his ACL on his first catch in the game against Florida, which caused him to miss the rest of the season.
In 2012, Hunter started all 12 games and caught 73 passes for 1,083 yards and 9 touchdowns, and many pegged him as the draft’s top WR prospect. Character concerns and work ethic caused him to slip to the second-round, and those same issues have him in the doghouse early with his coaches and teammates.
If Hunter can ever get his head on straight, he certainly has the potential to “destroy” opposing defenses.