Jaguars Plan Versatile Use of Travis Hunter for Debut
The Jacksonville Jaguars plan to utilize Travis Hunter as a wide receiver and cornerback in full in the regular season opener against the Carolina Panthers, according to sources close to the team. Although Hunter is expected to play more as a wide receiver than as a cornerback in the first game, the situation could vary in the second week of the season and beyond. The Jaguars plan to diversify Hunter’s usage throughout the season, although they believe there will be weeks in which the rookie can and should perform as a full-time wide receiver and cornerback.Initially, Jacksonville will determine Hunter’s usage on a week-to-week basis. The Jaguars want to keep their opponents guessing and force them to prepare for all possibilities involving Hunter, the Heisman Trophy winner and the second overall pick in this year’s NFL draft. Hunter, 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, missed Jacksonville’s second preseason game (none of the Jaguars’ starters played in the final preseason game) and four training camp practices earlier in the summer due to an upper-body injury.“We’ll have to figure it out,” Jaguars coach Liam Coen stated. “We’re all going to have to be flexible. We’ll put that plan together in the next 24 hours, in terms of, okay, what are the exact numbers we want to hit on both sides or in usage?”
Liam Coen, Jaguars Coach
Hunter has the opportunity to achieve something that the NFL hasn’t witnessed in over a decade. Since 1980, only three NFL players have started as a wide receiver and cornerback in the same game: Deion Sanders in 1996, Champ Bailey in 2000, and Antonio Cromartie in 2012. Sanders, who was Hunter’s college coach in Colorado, and Bailey are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Hunter is poised to join this list at some point this season, but Jacksonville’s Week 1 alignment, with Hunter playing more receiver than cornerback, is consistent with what the team released in its first regular season depth chart, where he was listed as a starting wide receiver and backup cornerback. Hunter played 364 plays in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 in the 15 training camp practices in which he fully participated. It was almost a 50-50 split: 188 on offense and 176 on defense. In 11-on-11 work, Hunter played 173 plays on offense and 168 on defense.“Some time was lost, and that’s something we need to make sure we’re aware of and stay committed as coaches to make sure that if he feels a little lost or doesn’t know what he’s doing in some things, well, maybe we have to take a step back and give him a break here for a second,” Coen said. “Whatever it is, we have to be flexible, but I think he’s done a really good job dedicating himself to the plan on both sides of the ball in recent days and today he was flying pretty well.”
Liam Coen, Jaguars Coach
