Danielle Hunter is having a monster season.



After Sunday’s dominating 3.5-sack effort against the Lions, he currently leads the league in sacks with 11.5 through nine games, ranks third among edge rushers in total pressures and ranks fourth in that group in total stops according to Pro Football Focus.



This is the very player who some scouts called “overrated” and was told by the NFL draft advisory committee to stay in school. That’s in part because Hunter finished his final year in college with 1.5 sacks and two quarterback hurries over the course of a full season.



The astounding strides Hunter has taken as a pass rusher aren’t unprecedented, but they’re certainly rare. The four edge rushers drafted near Hunter — Lorenzo Mauldin, Trey Flowers, Geneo Grissom and Eli Harold — averaged 6.1 sacks in their final two college seasons.



Since entering the NFL, those four have combined for 31.5 sacks, 5.5 behind...