There was always a question of whether star prospect Travis Hunter would play both offense and defense in the NFL. The Jacksonville Jaguars had him playing both ways, albeit much more on offense, before he got hurt and ended up missing the rest of the season.
Hunter was excellent on both sides in college, and that was part of the reason he was so high on NFL draft boards. But with an injury preventing him from playing at all, adjustments may have to be made. Despite that, the Jags still believe he’ll be a two-way player in 2026 and beyond.
Jags expect Travis Hunter to keep being two-way player
Is Travis Hunter better at cornerback or wide receiver? The Jaguars don’t seem to care much, and they don’t aim to find out and stick him on that side of the ball permanently. They tried him both ways in 2025, and they plan to keep it up in 2026.
“We still expect him to play on both sides of the ball,” GM James Gladstone said Wednesday via ESPN. “The steps that he was taking by the midpoint of the season really made us feel good about what the back half of the year was going to be on both sides of the ball and what that impact was going to look like being a feature point on offense and an impact player on defense.”
Gladstone called the injury “disappointing timing” but added that everyone feels “good” about where they’re heading with Hunter. They’re all very excited about the future that Hunter brings them on both sides.
On offense, Hunter recorded 28 catches for 298 yards and a touchdown. On defense, he had 15 tackles and three pass breakups. He was on the field for 67% of the team’s offensive snaps and 36% of the defensive snaps before going down in late October. He appeared to be heating up before getting hurt.
“With Travis having gotten to a place midseason where you felt like he was starting to peak and really make a real dent, and the plan for post-bye was to continue to enhance that, tough not to be able to see that come to life down the backstretch,” Gladstone said.
Head coach Liam Coen chimes in
Liam Coen got the Jaguars a division title in his first year. He did so without the services of his exciting first-round pick for most of the year. When he has Travis Hunter back, he believes he will continue to evolve and become a special player.
“For him right now it’s about getting his rehab right and diving in mentally because of some of the limitations we’ll have throughout the offseason program,” Coen said. “But I’m really excited about getting back to work with Travis and continue that evolution and see what that looks like.”
The Jaguars sent a haul to the Cleveland Browns for the pick they used on Hunter. That includes four draft picks, and they do not have this year’s first-rounder as a result. They badly wanted to move up from five to two in order to select Hunter. The 2025 number five pick, a second-round pick, and a fourth-round pick in 2025 were also part of the compensation.
The Jaguars also got back fourth and sixth-round picks in 2025. So, once the first-round pick is used this year, the Hunter trade’s door will be completely closed. They did, however, trade fourth and sixth-round picks in 2026 for Jakobi Meyers. They then signed him to a three-yar, $60 million contract, adding another weapon alongside Hunter.
In 2026, they will have Hunter, Meyers, Brian Thomas Jr., and Parker Washington out wide for Trevor Lawrence to throw to. The Jaguars expect Hunter to be ready by OTAs.
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