{"id":277694,"date":"2025-08-10T19:53:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T19:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/277694\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T19:53:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T19:53:11","slug":"rookie-jarquez-hunter-showcasing-his-super-power-for-rams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/277694\/","title":{"rendered":"Rookie Jarquez Hunter showcasing his ‘super power’ for Rams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2020, inside the clang-and-clatter of Neshoba Central High\u2019s powerlifting gym, Jarquez Hunter<\/a>\u2019s coach laid down a dare: squat 645 pounds on three counts.<\/p>\n

With a nod and quick coat of chalk, Hunter went to work. Challenges don\u2019t faze him.<\/p>\n

At a Mississippi water company three years prior, Hunter\u2019s co-workers coaxed him into a pickup basketball game. Still in his button-down shirt and cowboy boots, the 5-foot-9 Hunter went airborne. And dunked.<\/p>\n

In those same boots, the Rams\u2019<\/a> rookie running back completed more delicate tests: He patiently broke and nurtured a horse that he eventually rode across Auburn\u2019s campus.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cStay true to the thing you\u2019re doing,\u201d Hunter said.<\/p>\n

On Saturday at SoFi Stadium, Hunter made his NFL debut in a preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys, Lining up behind quarterback Stetson Bennett, he took a handoff on a third-and-six play and mimicked a sprinter stealing a head start \u2014 his shoulders low and knees churning. Hunter knifed through the defense and broke for an 11-yard gain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a great run,\u201d said Rams coach Sean McVay<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s knocking guys back and finishing forward where what might be a four-yard run ends up being an eight-yard or seven-yard run.\u201d<\/p>\n

That bruising style helped Hunter rush for 3,371 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns in four seasons at Auburn. The Rams selected Hunter in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL draft, adding him to a running back corps that features starter Kyren Williams<\/a> and second-year pro Blake Corum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s definitely laser-focused on what you\u2019re saying,\u201d Rams running backs coach Ron Gould<\/a> said during training camp.<\/p>\n

Or, as McVay illustrated it: \u201cHe can stare a hole through you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gould dubbed Hunter\u2019s speed as his \u201csuper power,\u201d a gift confirmed by a 4.44-second 40-yard dash. But Hunter\u2019s ability to twist defenders out of position mid-chase is his calling card. Proof? He amassed 278 yards in 23 carries last October against Kentucky.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince I was in middle school growing up, I did a lot of squatting,\u201d Hunter said. \u201cI do a lot of leg workouts. I run hills and pull sleds. That\u2019s really how I get the power in my legs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rams linebacker Chris \u201cPooh\u201d Paul Jr.<\/a>, a fellow rookie, played against Hunter three times at Arkansas before Paul transferred to Mississippi. Every matchup against Hunter\u2019s Tigers, Paul said, was the same headache.<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams running back Jarquez Hunter is tackled by the Dallas Cowboys defense during a preseason game Saturday at SoFi Stadium.<\/p>\n

(Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew he ran hard,\u201d the Rams linebacker said. \u201cWe knew he was hard to bring down. We knew he had speed. Very good in pass [protection]. \u2026 Man, he\u2019s very dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that danger vanishes once the pads come off. They\u2019re replaced by the patience of a country boy.<\/p>\n

Hunter, who also stashes party tricks like leaping out of a swimming pool, grew up in the rolling greens of central Mississippi. And back home, Hunter\u2019s most loyal running mate doesn\u2019t wear pads. Danger, a chestnut quarter horse with a white blaze down his face and a deep copper coat, was born the same summer Hunter first wore an Auburn jersey.<\/p>\n

The colt was born while Hunter was driving home for a short break before fall camp, its spindly legs still wobbly in the pasture.<\/p>\n

The patience to break a horse, the stubbornness to work one until it trusts you, the dawn-to-dusk commitment of tending to something that can\u2019t speak back \u2014 Hunter said he swears it all bleeds into his game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re out there working with animals, you gotta stay true,\u201d Hunter said, \u201cyou gotta go with the training. You still gotta work with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

That same discipline shows when Hunter rides his ATV up a steep hill, hauls in catfish by hand, or waits patiently for a buck in the woods \u2014 and it\u2019s the same grit he\u2019ll lean on as he pushes for a place in the Rams\u2019 running back rotation.<\/p>\n

For now, Hunter will line up again Saturday against the Chargers<\/a>, with a chance to outpace the 41 yards he logged in 11 carries in his debut.<\/p>\n

\u201cPretty decent,\u201d Hunter said, \u201cbut it\u2019s things I got to fix.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because for Hunter, the fixes are the fun part of challenges \u2014 whether it\u2019s mending a missed block, pumping out another squat or winning the trust of a restless colt.<\/p>\n

Staff writer Gary Klein contributed to this report.<\/p>\n