NFL insider sets expectation for Travis Hunter, how much he’ll play offense, defense

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler set some expectations for Travis Hunter and his ability to play both ways as a rookie for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars intend to play him at wide receiver and cornerback, like he did in college, right away.

How much he plays on both sides remains to be seen, but the general consensus is Hunter will play offense a little bit more than defense. The snap count total likely won’t be what it was in college, but Hunter will see the field a lot.

The Jaguars will be smart, per Fowler. They want to manage their star rookie at No. 2 overall pick the right way to make sure he plays at the highest level.

“Well, they’re trying to temper expectations a little bit, or at least I will, because when people think going both sides, they think he’s going to play 110-120 snaps. That’s just not going to happen. It’s not realistic in the NFL. But asking some other teams about what’s a good model for Hunter, they say maybe play 40 snaps on offense, 30 snaps on defense, or 45-25 … but it’s not going to be an insane amount of snaps. But they do believe … people who spent time with Hunter at Colorado, they believe he’s that kind of special, not only player, but personality, where he can handle it, if anybody can. He’s really well conditioned.

“The problem is, you put him out at cornerback and you play him a lot, he’s already playing offense, then they’re gonna have Derrick Henry, those big running guys coming right at you. You’re gonna have to tackle, that questions your durability a little bit. So those are some things he has to answer early.”

Just last week, Hunter was listed as a starting wide receiver for the Jaguars, but a backup at cornerback. That could develop into starting roles both ways though, at least as far as snaps are concerned.

Jaguars head coach Liam Coen spoke to Rich Eisen to discuss the plan to play on both offense and defense. However, it appears that Hunter is taking more toward the receiver position than he is in the defensive secondary.

“It’s happening,” Coen said of Hunter’s status of playing both sides of the ball. “Everybody in the building was on board with — how do we get the best out of Travis’s days? … Fast forward to now, where he has taken massive strides, specifically at the receiver position, of truly playing it right.

“How to run each route, how to attack, leverage. His ball skills and body control are extremely natural. You can’t really coach that.”

Jacksonville will host the Pittsburgh Steelers for the opening week of the preseason on Aug. 9. It will serve as the first opportunity to see the incoming rookie during in-game NFL action.