A Key Piece...

John Hunton and family

It seems like every year, I'm pining away for a steady and reliable Tight End target for our Columbia QB's to rely on. It's pretty hard to measure the huge value that kind of weapon can be for an offense.

Columbia has had some great TE's in my 30 years of watching the team. Guys like Matt Less, Brian Bassett, Wade Fletcher and Andrew Kennedy come to mind. 

Rising senior John Hunton is starting to show signs that he may be ready to join the above list. He played at an unfairly overlooked level last year, but now he's stepping it up even more. 

Hunton had what I would call a solid season last year with many flashes of brilliance. His fellow TE, the graduating Hank Trumbull, got a lot of attention because of some of the big plays he was involved in. But Hunton took most of the snaps. His effort and concentration during his TD catch vs. Harvard was probably the high point. But it was also very instructive on how sure-handed Hunton happens to be.

Now that new QB Coach Ricky Santos has let the cat out of the bag that the Columbia offense will be extremely up-tempo and no-huddle this fall, (almost like the U. of Oregon), the importance of a reliable emergency valve TE to throw to or fool a tiring defense with is maximized.  

Here's the exact quote from Santos:

“The hardest thing is putting in a new offense,” he said, but that’s exactly what the Lions are doing. “We’ll be up-tempo, no huddle.” 

Hunton could be emerging at just the right time to make his senior year extremely memorable. If he plays even at and All Ivy Honorable Mention level, this could be a special season for the Lions.