Lee Hunter (born July 2, 2002) is an American professional football nose tackle for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Auburn Tigers, UCF Knights and Texas Tech Red Raiders. Hunter was selected by the Panthers in the second round of the 2026 NFL draft.
Early life Hunter was born in Mobile, Alabama, where he grew up. He played football at Ben C. Rain High School as a freshman before transferring to Mattie T. Blount High School. As a junior at Blount, Hunter, playing as a defensive lineman, recorded 77 tackles, 23 tackles-for-loss (TFLs) and eight sacks. He then had 54 tackles, 20 TFLs and 4.5 sacks as a senior while helping Blount to the Class 6A quarterfinals, being selected first-team all-state for his performance. A four-star recruit and one of the top-100 prospects nationally, he committed to play college football for the Auburn Tigers.
College career Hunter redshirted as a true freshman at Auburn in 2021, seeing no playing time. He entered the NCAA transfer portal after the season, claiming that the team's players were treated "like dogs" under head coach Bryan Harsin. He transferred to the UCF Knights, playing in 13 games while recording 17 tackles during the 2022 season. Then, as a sophomore in 2023, he was named honorable mention All-Big 12 Conference after recording 69 tackles, 11 TFLs and three sacks. In 2024, he totaled 45 tackles, 9.5 TFLs and one sack while being named second-team All-Big 12. He transferred to the Texas Tech Red Raiders for his final season in 2025.
College statistics
Legend Bold Career high
Season Team GP Solo Ast Tot Loss Sk Pd FF FR TD 2021 Auburn 0 Redshirt 2022 UCF 13 9 8 17 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 0 2023 UCF 13 38 31 69 11.0 3.0 1 0 0 0 2024 UCF 12 19 26 45 9.5 1.0 0 0 0 0 2025 Texas Tech 12 10 20 30 7.5 2.5 0 1 0 0 Total 50 76 85 161 29.0 7.5 1 1 0 0
Professional career
Hunter was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the second round (49th overall) of the 2026 NFL draft.
References
External links Carolina Panthers bio UCF Knights bio Texas Tech Red Raiders bio