The Jacksonville Jaguars could be on the verge of having a two-way star in Travis Hunter. Heading into the 2025 NFL season, the question surrounding Hunter is whether or not they’ll let the rookie play offense and defense.
On defense, veteran pass rusher Josh Hines-Allen gets to play alongside Hunter, who would be in the secondary should Jacksonville give the University of Colorado product the green light to become a two-way star.
On Sunday, the 28-year-old spoke with 1010 XL and was asked about his first impression of Hunter ahead of the Jaguars’ first preseason game on August 9 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I mean, I think he’s taking it well so far,” Hines-Allen said. “I think there’s still a lot of strides that needs to be made. But at the end of the day, man, he’s a baller. You put the ball in his hand, or if he has the opportunity to go get the ball, he’s gonna make a play. And when you have a guy like that on the field at all times, it gets put you in a better position to be successful.”
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On Friday, Jacksonville hosted a scrimmage at EverBank Stadium, allowing Hunter to line up at wide receiver and cornerback in a simulated game. He finished with three catches across 17 offensive snaps and added 21 snaps on defense, which Jaguars head coach Liam Coen called a big success.
“I thought it was great,” Coen said (h/t Michael DiRocco of ESPN). “We got him the work that we wanted to get with him on offense early on and then able to get him on defense and get him enough reps. That was what we were hoping to do tonight in terms of just get him on both sides of the ball, quality work.
“I know he [didn’t] get much [action at cornerback] because the [first-team] D-line was getting a good rush, so it was a little hard to see. I thought when he had the ball in his hands [on offense] and he operated, he operated at a high level.”
The scrimmage game appears to have given Hunter hope that he can be a two-way player for the Jaguars. As a result, Coen will have a few days to determine whether he wants to test the 22-year-old’s ability in the preseason game against the Steelers to determine whether to proceed with this experiment or pull the plug to allow Hunter to focus on being a receiver.
