BroBible
Travis Hunter Jr. is a unicorn. That is not a secret. However, the Jacksonville Jaguars have kept their plan for the two-way rookie mostly under wraps over the last few weeks.
Not anymore! They confirmed that he is indeed going to play on both sides of the ball with a ridiculous clip from OTAs. He is giving them no choice.
Hunter was the first non-quarterback drafted into the NFL at the end of April with the No. 2 overall pick. The Jaguars traded up with the Cleveland Browns to select the reigning Heisman Trophy winner after the Titans took Cam Ward. They desperately needed to make a splash after a disappointing four-win season so they took the most dynamic athlete perhaps we have ever seen.
Upon his arrival to Jacksonville for rookie minicamp, it seemed as though the organization was going to use him primarily as a wide receiver. Trevor Lawrence needs weapons. Hunter caught 96 passes for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns as a junior at Colorado last fall. Any quarterback would love to have him.
With that in mind, every single clip of Travis Hunter at minicamp showed him playing on offense. All of them. At no point did the team post a video where he lined up at cornerback.
That changed on Monday at OTAs.
Secondary coach Ron Milus is already begging head coach Liam Coen to get more time with the first-round pick. There isn’t enough of him to go around!
Ron Milus came up to me after practice and said, “Can we have [Hunter] more?” So that’s a good thing. We were in the red area last Friday and he didn’t end up making any plays on the ball, but just the movement skills in some of the man coverages, the feel in zone, you can definitely see how natural it is for him. Still learning, still growing, still trying to learn the calls as much as possible, but when you see him just in the actual 7-on-7 in the team setting, he doesn’t look out of place by any means.
— Liam Coen
The Jaguars do not plan to have Hunter practice on both sides on the ball in the same day for now, but that is likely going to change come time for the regular season. However, the 22-year-old still meets with his defensive coaches regularly to stay up to speed when he is not practicing on defense.
It appears as though Coen granted Milus’ request on Tuesday because Hunter made an absurd interception in coverage. His athleticism is unmatched. I don’t know how he caught this ball:
Cornerback is Travis Hunter’s natural position so it will be interesting to see how often the Jaguars choose to put him out there in coverage. It is impossible for him to keep the same workload in the NFL as in college but won’t be easy to keep him on the sideline or at receiver if he keeps making ridiculous defensive plays like...
