Will Jaguars allow Travis Hunter to play both ways?

Will Jaguars allow Travis Hunter to play both ways?

The Jacksonville Jaguars kicked off the 2025 NFL Draft with a huge blockbuster trade, moving up three spots from No. 5 to No. 2 to draft two-way superstar and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter.

Hunter played both wide receiver and cornerback at an unprecedented level over his collegiate career. He was the best all-around player in the country with unmatched stamina. Though there was plenty of conversation leading up to the draft about whether or not the team that selected him would let him play both sides.

First-year Jaguars general manager answered those concerns Saturday during Day 3 of the draft.

“His intent is on playing both sides of the ball, as is ours,” Gladstone said, according to Pro Football Talk. “When it comes to his onboarding process we’ll give him a heavy dose of offense, and sprinkle in the defensive side of the ball, knowing that by the time we get to the regular season, those should be balanced out. But that’s the initial onboarding plan as it stands today.”

The Jaguars are far from a finished product, but Trevor Lawrence‘s skill positions with Brian Thomas, Dyami Brown, Travis Hunter and Tank Bigsby could be far worse. They did have to overpay to get their guy, flipping a future first-round pick plus a second- and fourth-round pick while receiving a fourth and a sixth in return.

Defensively, he slots in as one of the team’s top corners, flanked by Tyson Campbell, Jarrian Jones and Jourdan Lewis, who came over from Dallas this offseason.

Travis Hunter 2025 NFL Draft Profile

I’m sure there will be packages where first-year Jaguars head coach Liam Coen will try to install Travis Hunter. We will know more closer to the season, but I don’t expect Jacksonville to play Hunter every snap like he played at Colorado.

The bottom line is you don’t give up that much capital for him to play on just one side exclusively. He’s shown that he’s more than capable of doing so at a high level. Hunter’s ceiling is unparalleled relative to a few of the other top draft picks because of the luxury of playing two premium positions, so I’m excited to see how it all unfolds.

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