11-03-2021, 11:43 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-10-2021, 07:04 PM by allbetsonjames. Edited 1 time in total.)
Juno Hu has consistently been the center of controversy ever since he entered the league. Despite that, teams still seem to continue pursuing him with great interest during free agency periods. In this article, we will analyze Juno Hu's career thus far, and see if we can determine whether he is worth the roster spot and cap hit.
S27: Drafted to Tijuana as a highly touted prospect and becoming an immediate impactful starter, Juno Hu amasses 50 tackles with 6 missed, 1 forced fumble, 17 passes defended, and 4 interceptions, with one of them going to the house against London in week 9 in his first real taste of professional football, and it is quite a splash. He even makes the (or so we thought) game-winning 4th down tackle in the playoff game against Dallas. If it weren't for the extremely controversial automaticl 1st down call made by the officials (we still don't know what the penalty was for to this day), Hu and the Luchadores would have moved onto the Ultimini that year, with very high potential to win it all. An extremely promising start to a bright career, however, as many would come to know, Tijuana was potentially the worst place to land in for this bright-eyed rookie, who immediately succumbed to the dark and lavish lifestyle that this city incentivizes before his career had even really started to take off. Also, being a high draft pick, Tijuana was likely hoping to get more than a season's worth of production out of Hu, but the rookie's eyes were bigger than his stomach, as he immediately declared for the ISFL the following season.
Verdict: Still somewhat worth it
S28: Perhaps overlooking some of the underlying character concerns, The San Jose Sabercats spend their first round draft pick to bring Juno Hu to Teal Town. Through 12 starts and 16 games, Hu amasses only 18 tackles, with 6 missed tackles, and only a single pass defenced. None of the tackles were for a loss. No sacks, no interceptions, no fumbles forced or recovered. One of the worst rookie seasons I've ever seen. Potentially THE worst, given his snap count. There were multiple instances where Hu straight up gives up on the play, or straight up does not know his responsibility on the play, caught out in no man's land. If this is a preview of what's to come, we would highly recommend a career change. Not to mention, being in the limelight does this man no favors whatsoever. The ISFL, like any high profile league, expects nothing short of model citizen behavior, for their athletes to be role models to current and future generations, and Hu as an individual does not inspire any sort of kindness, altruism, cordiality, or really, anything. Perhaps a stint in the custodial arts will do him some good. Builds character, so they say.
Verdict: Definitely not worth it
S29: For whatever reason, the San Jose Sabercats decide to move the absolute abysmal cornerback to a starting position. He must have shown a lot of promise during training camp or has some dirt on the owners, or something. The results? Through 16 games, he amasses 71 tackles with 11 missed, 1 sack, 1 interception, and 17 passes defended. A massive improvement indeed, but only when you compare it to his rookie season. However, it does show a bit of potential that Hu can play at the ISFL level if and when he puts his heart into it. However, his production is still quite subpar when compared to other starting cornerbacks. The film review still shows a lack of discipline, and he still gives up on a lot of plays, particularly ones away from his side of the field. Reports of him failing his conditioning test during mini-camp and skipping practices certainly do not help his reputation, either.
Verdict: Probably not worth it
S30: Continuing on a mini-breakout season, Hu once again plays all 16 games and amasses 74 tackles with 6 missed, 1 interception, and 11 passes defended. A season of production very similar to the previous, so the verdict remains the same, if not slightly worse due to the lack of improvement. If this is Hu's ceiling, then he is definitely not worth the headache. Not to mention, investigations into the Hu Cares Foundation has revealed quite a number of various transgressions, and has resulted in quite a number of lawsuits that are still ongoing to this day. Having your starting cornerback regularly miss practice due to these court hearings is probably a big reason why he is not playing as well as he could or should be. And you have to wonder how much these proceedings and incidents factored into his decision to leave San Jose.
Verdict: Probably not worth it
S31: After entering free agency, Hu signs a big 1-year contract with the New Orleans Second Line and is given the CB1 job. Through 16 games, Hu amasses 90 tackles with 6 missed, 2 interceptions, and 25 passes defended. He also forced and recovered a fumble, both firsts in his career. Perhaps it was the change of scenery that sparked increased production, but somehow Hu was able to push past his previous plateau. Either way, while he set some personal bests this season, his production is still not yet worthy of recognition, and rightfully so. He is doing the bare minimum of what is expected of someone in his position, and who is getting paid as much as he is, rather than anything above and beyond. The film review shows him still making some boneheaded rookie mistakes that should have been curbed in Tijuana, much less 4 seasons into the ISFL.
Verdict: Potentially worth it
S32: Controversy has already hit Juno Hu this offseason, before even playing a single game for the Austin Copperheads, and yet, another big 1-year contract is signed. Sources say that he was close to facing a big suspension, which would have put the Copperheads in quite a predicament, as they could have pursued a number of other free agents in his place. Not sure what the Copperheads see in this guy, but he better play like his freedom depends on it. Like they say, if Hannibal Lecter could run a 4.3, he'd have an eating disorder, and that's exactly what Hu needs to do this season to help clear his name.
Verdict: Only time will tell
Personally? I don't think this man is worth the money nor the headache. His production has never been impressive, and I don't see him winning any Cornerback of the Year awards any time soon. His off-the-field antics puts him at high risk of the ISFL applying a lifetime ban from the league. Perhaps this is why teams are only signing this guy to 1-year deals at a time, given that risk, and that makes total sense and is very smart of them, but other sources say that it is Juno himself who wants these 1-year deals. Not sure why anyone would turn down long-term job security. If he was a Hall of Famer in the making? Maybe. But even then, we all know how adverse the Hall of Fame voters are towards players with despicable character.
S27: Drafted to Tijuana as a highly touted prospect and becoming an immediate impactful starter, Juno Hu amasses 50 tackles with 6 missed, 1 forced fumble, 17 passes defended, and 4 interceptions, with one of them going to the house against London in week 9 in his first real taste of professional football, and it is quite a splash. He even makes the (or so we thought) game-winning 4th down tackle in the playoff game against Dallas. If it weren't for the extremely controversial automaticl 1st down call made by the officials (we still don't know what the penalty was for to this day), Hu and the Luchadores would have moved onto the Ultimini that year, with very high potential to win it all. An extremely promising start to a bright career, however, as many would come to know, Tijuana was potentially the worst place to land in for this bright-eyed rookie, who immediately succumbed to the dark and lavish lifestyle that this city incentivizes before his career had even really started to take off. Also, being a high draft pick, Tijuana was likely hoping to get more than a season's worth of production out of Hu, but the rookie's eyes were bigger than his stomach, as he immediately declared for the ISFL the following season.
Verdict: Still somewhat worth it
S28: Perhaps overlooking some of the underlying character concerns, The San Jose Sabercats spend their first round draft pick to bring Juno Hu to Teal Town. Through 12 starts and 16 games, Hu amasses only 18 tackles, with 6 missed tackles, and only a single pass defenced. None of the tackles were for a loss. No sacks, no interceptions, no fumbles forced or recovered. One of the worst rookie seasons I've ever seen. Potentially THE worst, given his snap count. There were multiple instances where Hu straight up gives up on the play, or straight up does not know his responsibility on the play, caught out in no man's land. If this is a preview of what's to come, we would highly recommend a career change. Not to mention, being in the limelight does this man no favors whatsoever. The ISFL, like any high profile league, expects nothing short of model citizen behavior, for their athletes to be role models to current and future generations, and Hu as an individual does not inspire any sort of kindness, altruism, cordiality, or really, anything. Perhaps a stint in the custodial arts will do him some good. Builds character, so they say.
Verdict: Definitely not worth it
S29: For whatever reason, the San Jose Sabercats decide to move the absolute abysmal cornerback to a starting position. He must have shown a lot of promise during training camp or has some dirt on the owners, or something. The results? Through 16 games, he amasses 71 tackles with 11 missed, 1 sack, 1 interception, and 17 passes defended. A massive improvement indeed, but only when you compare it to his rookie season. However, it does show a bit of potential that Hu can play at the ISFL level if and when he puts his heart into it. However, his production is still quite subpar when compared to other starting cornerbacks. The film review still shows a lack of discipline, and he still gives up on a lot of plays, particularly ones away from his side of the field. Reports of him failing his conditioning test during mini-camp and skipping practices certainly do not help his reputation, either.
Verdict: Probably not worth it
S30: Continuing on a mini-breakout season, Hu once again plays all 16 games and amasses 74 tackles with 6 missed, 1 interception, and 11 passes defended. A season of production very similar to the previous, so the verdict remains the same, if not slightly worse due to the lack of improvement. If this is Hu's ceiling, then he is definitely not worth the headache. Not to mention, investigations into the Hu Cares Foundation has revealed quite a number of various transgressions, and has resulted in quite a number of lawsuits that are still ongoing to this day. Having your starting cornerback regularly miss practice due to these court hearings is probably a big reason why he is not playing as well as he could or should be. And you have to wonder how much these proceedings and incidents factored into his decision to leave San Jose.
Verdict: Probably not worth it
S31: After entering free agency, Hu signs a big 1-year contract with the New Orleans Second Line and is given the CB1 job. Through 16 games, Hu amasses 90 tackles with 6 missed, 2 interceptions, and 25 passes defended. He also forced and recovered a fumble, both firsts in his career. Perhaps it was the change of scenery that sparked increased production, but somehow Hu was able to push past his previous plateau. Either way, while he set some personal bests this season, his production is still not yet worthy of recognition, and rightfully so. He is doing the bare minimum of what is expected of someone in his position, and who is getting paid as much as he is, rather than anything above and beyond. The film review shows him still making some boneheaded rookie mistakes that should have been curbed in Tijuana, much less 4 seasons into the ISFL.
Verdict: Potentially worth it
S32: Controversy has already hit Juno Hu this offseason, before even playing a single game for the Austin Copperheads, and yet, another big 1-year contract is signed. Sources say that he was close to facing a big suspension, which would have put the Copperheads in quite a predicament, as they could have pursued a number of other free agents in his place. Not sure what the Copperheads see in this guy, but he better play like his freedom depends on it. Like they say, if Hannibal Lecter could run a 4.3, he'd have an eating disorder, and that's exactly what Hu needs to do this season to help clear his name.
Verdict: Only time will tell
Personally? I don't think this man is worth the money nor the headache. His production has never been impressive, and I don't see him winning any Cornerback of the Year awards any time soon. His off-the-field antics puts him at high risk of the ISFL applying a lifetime ban from the league. Perhaps this is why teams are only signing this guy to 1-year deals at a time, given that risk, and that makes total sense and is very smart of them, but other sources say that it is Juno himself who wants these 1-year deals. Not sure why anyone would turn down long-term job security. If he was a Hall of Famer in the making? Maybe. But even then, we all know how adverse the Hall of Fame voters are towards players with despicable character.