The Jacksonville Jaguars had one of the most celebrated moves in the 2025 NFL Draft after they traded up to No. 2 and landed Travis Hunter, the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner. Hunter notably wanted to continue playing both sides of the ball, as a wide receiver and a cornerback, in the NFL, and the Jaguars have made good on their promise for him to do that.
Hunter made history in the Jaguars' first preseason game, taking snaps on both sides of the ball as planned. On offense, Hunter took the field as wide receiver, netting two receptions for nine yards. Then he switched to defense for one drive - officially making history by becoming the first player in the modern Super Bowl era to play on both offense and defense.
The stat sheet wasn't as impressive as it might seem, but his performance was better than it appears on the surface. Unfortunately, he missed the second preseason game with an upper-body injury, but the update from Liam Coen since then has been promising - Jaguars fans will likely see him back on the field sooner rather than later. There are a lot of good reasons to be optimistic about Hunter's future in Jacksonville, but one analyst has done a baffling 180 that frankly, makes no sense at all.
Ryan Clark calls Travis Hunter a bust?
ESPN's Ryan Clark is no stranger to the NFL; he's a Super Bowl champion safety and a Pro Bowl winner. After retiring he, like so many other former players, became an analyst. But his recent opinion on Travis Hunter just makes no sense, where he argued that drafting Hunter was a mistake if he isn't able to play both sides of the ball.
"If he doesn't play both sides of the football, you wasted a pick. You wasted assets," he said. "You decided that moving up to number two wasn't truly what you wanted to do, because he's not the number two pick as a wide receiver. He's not the number two pick as a cornerback. He is the number two pick if he plays both."
Clark continued on, "He is the number two pick if he affects both sides of the football. If he doesn't do that ,what you gave up - giving up next year's first-round pick to get him is not worth it to play offense primarily, or no defense, and vice versa. So to me, if you have to make that decision based on his inability to physically hold up throughout 17 games, it was a mistake to draft Travis."
What makes this insane take even more hilarious is how Clark described Hunter just one year ago... where he said Hunter was the best player in college, and who should be drafted in the top five.
Somehow, he must have forgotten about tweeting this.
Draft Travis Hunter Top 5, & let him play whatever position he wants!! If there’s a better player in college ball he’s gonna have to show me!
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) August 30, 2024
Let's be clear: there's not a Jaguars fan alive who wouldn't be thrilled to see Hunter play both sides of the ball, and kill it at both. But it's entirely fair to point out that he might not be able to; as Hall-of-Fame defensive back Rod Woodson recently pointed out, it's a lot to put on a person's body. But does that mean Hunter was a waste of a pick?
Absolutely not.
As Clark has apparently forgotten, Hunter was one of the best wide receivers in his draft class. He was also one of the best cornerbacks. Clark evidently also forgot that Hunter was given both the Fred Biletnikoff Award (presented to the most outstanding receiver in college) and the Chuck Bednarik Award (naming him the best defensive player).
So if he only plays wide receiver, or only plays cornerback, it's hardly as if the Jaguars wouldn't still be getting an incredible player either way. And particularly on the offense, he would be a huge asset. It's something Clark himself acknowledged last year, so why he suddenly is claiming Hunter could - in any way - be a waste of a pick boggles the mind.