The amount of discourse that took place during the NFL offseason in regard to Travis Hunter was almost shocking. Analysts couldn’t decide if he was a better prospect as a wide receiver or cornerback. Coaches couldn’t seem to agree whether he would actually be able to play both side of the ball in the pros.
Despite those doubts, the Jacksonville Jaguars made their feelings on his potential clear: they view him as a once-in-a-lifetime player. In order to get him, they traded away several high picks, mortgaging some of their near future in order to get a player who was one-of-a-kind in college. Fans haven’t yet seen Hunter be fully unleashed by the Jaguars coaching staff through the first couple of months of summer, but that may be changing soon.
Jaguars to put more on Hunter’s two-way plate once training camp begins
In an all-encompassing article detailing a lot of information surrounding the Jaguars as they near training camp, NFL.com’s Coral Smith dropped a surprising nugget about Hunter. It sounds like the Jaguars coaching staff will put a lot more on his plate, in terms of playing both sides of the ball, once training camp begins.
Early on in workouts, the Jaguars limited him to one side of the ball per session, but started mixing things up as the weeks went on. Head coach Liam Coen has teased that training camp will feature a big ramp-up in how much Hunter is expected to pull double duty to prepare him for in-season responsibilities. These first practices in full pads will be crucial for the dynamic dual threat’s development, as well as the best indication of just how, and how much, Jacksonville is actually planning on using him on each side of the ball.
It really wasn’t too much of a surprise to see the coaches give Hunter more work on a specific side of the ball to start his NFL career. It was discussed plenty that Hunter would need to master either offense or defense first at the next level, before truly being able to maximize his two-way ability.
But it seems like Jacksonville is more willing than other teams were to truly throw him into the fire on both offense and defense. We might not really know what his full role will be until Week 1 of the regular season, though.
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