The Jacksonville Jaguars expect big things from Travis Hunter. That's why they didn't hesitate to pay what appeared to be a steep price to move up in the NFL Draft to select him second overall. But as talented as he is, it's sometimes easy to forget that he's a rookie.
Hunter may or may ultimately become the sports-altering talent that the Jags expect, but for the time being, his teammates are doing a good job of keeping him grounded. Following Day 5 of training camp, Jamal St. Cyr of News4Jax posted a clip in which the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner is carrying other players' pads, the proverbial hazing, a tradition virtually every rookie goes through.
Travis Hunter is getting the rookie treatment. Carrying in the vets pads. pic.twitter.com/9FmWdW37ja
— Jamal St. Cyr (@JStCyrTV) July 28, 2025
Not that Hunter needs to be grounded, though. Sure, he likes to have fun off the field. The former Colorado Buffalo loves to go fishing and play video games. But once he's on the football field, he's all business.
Back when Madden released his ratings, Hunter said that he didn't care about his, noting that he wanted to be the best possible player he could be. If he does care about his rating once he clocks out, that's another thing, but when it's time to practice, football is the only thing on his mind.
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Travis Hunter has been everything the Jaguars bargained and then some
One of the biggest questions surrounding Travis Hunter ahead of the draft (and early in the offseason) was whether he could truly play both ways in the NFL. So far, he's had no trouble with the transition to the pros and is trending toward lining up at corner and wide receiver in his rookie season.
Hunter only got reps at receiver early in the offseason program but began to practice on defense at mandatory minicamp. Fast forward to training camp, and he's been switching back and forth nearly every day. He has had no trouble handling everything the Jacksonville Jaguars have thrown at him.
Now, there's a chance that Hunter will at some point hit a wall, but he hasn't gotten there. Heck, he's thrived regardless of where he's practiced, and he may get a few extra reps during Montaric Brown's absence with a leg injury.
Speaking of, head coach Liam Coen said that Brown's injury won't affect how the team splits Hunter's workload on offense and defense. However, it will give the team a chance to make tweaks to his onboarding if needed.
"We're not going to alter it," Coen responded when asked if Brown's injury will affect the team's plan for Hunter (8:25 mark). "I think what will happen, you know, where he's on offense, he'll go back to defense before our mock game scrimmage and be able to kind of use that mock as an evaluation to see."
Coen continued, "What do we need to do now? What did it look like in the scrimmage? Do we need to maybe get a more on defense? Or, 'Hey, man, these other guys are, you know, producing and developing, and we can keep the schedule as is. That'll be kind of a, not a defining moment, but an evaluation time for us."
Now, Travis Hunter must keep building off of his promising start to training camp. However, nothing is stopping him, not even having to carry his teammates' pads, from making an impact for the Jaguars as a rookie.