When new general manager James "Intangibly Rich" Gladstone and head coach Liam Coen made the move to trade up in the 2025 NFL Draft for wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter, they did it with the intention of playing him on offense and defense. Despite what some talking heads say, the Jaguars weren't shy about their plans.
"The Jaguars view this as a selection of two elite players rather than one," Jaguars senior writer John Oesher reported right after the selection was made, "and the expectation is Hunter will contribute in a big way on both sides of the ball. That's unconventional on a scale that never has been seen in the NFL, and Hunter has potential to be a dynamic player of the type the league has rarely—if ever—seen."
And anyone who had their eyes on Hunter knew the rookie's position: Before even getting drafted, the Heisman Trophy winner claimed he'd never play football again if he didn't have the opportunity to play both sides of the ball.
"Because I've been doing it my whole life," he said. "I love being on the football field. I feel like I could dominate on each side of the ball, so I really enjoy doing it."
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The Jaguars are still working on the Travis Hunter experiment
Forming a plan and actually executing it are two different things. While Hunter certainly doesn't lack for athleticism, motivation, and pure talent, there's a reason no one else has tried to do what he's doing. Football is a brutal sport. It's physically and mentally draining, and it will take more than Hunter's raw skills to make it work.
In their Week 2 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Jaguars put No. 12 on the field for a total of 81 snaps—39 on offense and 42 on defense. Considering the defense only took 69 snaps and the offense 71, that means Hunter played more snaps than any other player on the team. And, notably, Hunter claims to feel fine afterward.
Head coach Liam Coen spoke with the media today, and the question was asked whether he thought they'd found a sweet spot for Hunter's preparation.
"I think so," Coen replied (1:03 mark). "I think we were very intentional last week, specifically about some of the volume and mileage that we were looking at deploying, and it showed up on Sunday. You know, there's definitely things to clean up...but [I'm] very happy with where things were last week in terms of our organization with him [and] his preparation. Right now, it's pretty split up. It's pretty 50/50, [except] the extra work that he's putting in on his own earlier in the mornings, before meetings even get started."
He continued, "So he does have to do, I don't want to call it double time, but it is in a lot of ways...I thought he had a really intentional week last week—the way that he prepared, the way that he practiced, was exactly what we're hunting up...I think we probably have a little bit more encouragement and excitement about where things went last week in terms of being able to handle that workload. And yeah, we've got to manage it...it's something we are constantly evaluating."
The Jaguars have taken the burden of worrying about his schedule very seriously, using the skills and talents of men like assistant head coach Jay Kaiser and director of performance science Chris Bach. Coen spoke about them, as well, during the presser.
"We were just meeting a minute ago with sports science," Coen went on. "With Chris Bach and Jay Kaiser about his schedule and about what it looks like...what we're hoping to get out of today, tomorrow, the whole vision...It's just something that we definitely need to make sure we're constantly evaluating and being able to tweak, if necessary."
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Final thoughts
We're entering Week 3 of the regular season, and this is the time when rookies start to prove themselves. Acclimating to the NFL is like adjusting to an entirely different sport compared to college.
These players need time and repetition, and no one more so than Travis Hunter, who's looking to do something that hasn't been done. While the Jaguars have their work cut out for them, the Heisman Trophy winner has the chops to make it happen.
Time will tell what that looks like.