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Jacksonville Jaguars WR/CB Travis Hunter
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he Jacksonville Jaguars may have had the most interesting offseason of any NFL team. Going 4-13 and missing the playoffs for the second straight year, the Jaguars hit the reset button and brought in a new head coach and a new general manager, signaling a new era of football in Jacksonville. Led by head coach Liam Coen and general manager, James Gladstone, the Jaguars are ready to become relevant once again.
And the biggest move that the Jaguars made this offseason was trading up for the No. 2 overall pick to draft two-way superstar, Travis Hunter. The most hyped rookie in recent history, Hunter’s abilities will take the league by storm and transform the modern game. Now, ahead of the start of the regular season, Coen called Hunter the team’s biggest curveball this offseason and explained why.
Coen’s Comments
There is no doubt that Hunter’s talent is elite but drafting him required everyone in the building to be on board. Making it clear that he wants to be a starter on both sides of the ball, Coen explained that coaching Hunter requires a unique approach that involves crafting a very specific practice plan.
“Every single person had to be truly on board with taking on this situation and opportunity,” Coen said via Bleacher Report. “When you’re talking about scheduling, that’s a curveball and a half because you’re saying, OK, we’ve got to make sure he’s getting X amount of days on both sides of the ball, but on those days, he’s not on one side, we’re still making sure we’re getting him in meetings on the other side of the ball.”
“So talk about (assistant) coaches having to take some extra workload on,” Coen added. “They don’t get much of a break because if it’s during special teams (portions of practice), he’s not on a special teams unit but there’s going to be an offensive or defensive coach meeting with him every single minute of his day that he is in our building. That took a lot of time to map out, and it was a curveball, especially for a first-time head coach trying to put together a whole operation.”
Hunter is listed as a starting receiver and a backup cornerback on the Jaguars’ official depth chart, but don’t be surprised if he is seen playing a lot of snaps on both sides of the ball come Week One against the Carolina Panthers.
Jaguars’ Plan for Hunter
Hunter himself declared that he wants to play both ways all the time, but the Jaguars are taking a careful approach. During Hunter’s introductory press conference after the draft, Coen said that he would start off as only a receiver while he acclimated to the defensive scheme but as he got more comfortable, the plan would evolve.
And in his first preseason game, Hunter’s snap count on offense and defense were fairly balanced. But questions still remain whether or not Hunter can be a full-time two-way player for all 17 games year after year. Not only is it hard on the body, but having to master two positions and two schemes at the NFL level is a very tall task. But if anyone can do it, it is a generational talent like Hunter.
Dylan Grausz A lifelong sports fan, Dylan channels his passion for sports into being a journalist, where his primary goal is to provide readers with content that they love to read. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Dylan’s love for the Warriors, 49ers and Giants runs deep, having the ultimate dream of being a beat reporter for one of those teams. More about Dylan Grausz
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