Early in 2026, the Jacksonville Jaguars announced that Travis Hunter will play cornerback full-time next season. This doesn't mean that he will no longer play wide receiver, but he'll do it on a part-time basis. However, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media stirred the pot when he confirmed the Jags' plans for the former Heisman Trophy winner.
While Rapoport didn't say anything new, and even cited a previous report from NFL Media colleague Cameron Wolfe, some talking heads on social media twisted his words and implied that he stated that Jacksonville had given up on Hunter playing two ways in the NFL.
Hunter caught wind of Rapoport's scoop and shared his thoughts. This led Rapoport to go back to correct the record, adding much-needed context to the situation.
Ian Rapoport confirms the Jaguars will still use Travis Hunter at receiver next season
Ian Rapoport said that he didn't say anything that wasn't true about Travis Hunter, pointing out that colleague Cameron Wolfe had already reported something similar.
"First of all, I'm going to go back to Travis Hunter straight, because I'd like a little more information. That's what we do, right?" Rapoport said on The Insiders. "We're in the information game. I'd like a little more information. Which part of this is a question? Is he saying, 'Wow, I can't believe you have all this information,' which is what I assume this is? Because really is a fantastic report, actually, one kind of started by our buddy Cam Wolfe, who first noted that Travis Hunter was going to play more corner this year than receiver."
Rapoport continued, "Because I have my doubts to whether Hunter is questioning the veracity of that report. That one makes sense, and certainly it is something that the Jacksonville Jaguars have talked about Hunter being used more on defense than offense, kind of being more of a matchup specific guy on offense, being more of a full-time corner, which I think it's safe to say, coming into the draft last year, most of the teams I spoke with thought he was going to end up as a corner rather than receiver. That's kind of where his special set of skills came from."
"Obviously, we're going to find out this year, but that is my understanding as well, that corner more than receiver. And then the other part of this, he is coming back from LCL, they have talked about, the Jaguars have that he is going to be not full speed this spring as he recovers from that torn LCL. Sounds like he is doing excellent in his rehab and should be fully good to go by training camp. I don't think Travis Hunter should have any questions with anything that I just said."
Here's Rapoport original tweet, and Hunter's reponse to it.
Now who told you this? 🤔 https://t.co/0sIzJgrH5L
— Travis Hunter (@TravisHunterJr) April 12, 2026
If you listen to the clip, Rapoport never said that Hunter would only play corner moving forward. You can blame aggregator accounts for misrepresenting his remarks and creating controversy when there wasn't even one. Nevertheless, he made the right call when he gave more context, even though others twisted his words.
And if there were any doubts about Rapoport's scoop, Adam Schefter or ESPN also stated that he isn't "gonna play less receiver," but rather that he's going to play more cornerback.
The Jaguars aren't giving up on Travis Hunter playing two ways
It's been known that Travis Hunter will play more cornerback in 2026 since general manager James Gladstone said it early this year. But because talking heads and Fantasy Bros don't follow the Jaguars closely, they think that this is breaking news.
However, even if they just found out about Hunter's projected role for 2026, that doesn't give them a pass for stating that he would no longer play wide receiver when he is. Either they didn't do enough due diligence, or they simply wanted to create controversy when there wasn't one.
Ultimately, the Jaguars have a clear idea of how they plan to deploy Hunter next season. That some talking heads are just catching up, that's on them.