By Frank Schwab
The Jacksonville Jaguars aren’t going to ease Travis Hunter into the NFL. Not even in the preseason.
In Jaguars camp, reports have said Hunter is practicing extensively on offense and defense. That shouldn’t be a surprise considering Hunter won a Heisman Trophy last season at Colorado playing receiver and cornerback, and the Jaguars made a huge trade up to draft him second overall with plans to play him both ways.
And the Jaguars made sure Hunter made his NFL preseason debut on offense and defense Saturday night.
The Jaguars used Hunter as a full-time starter on offense on their first drive. Then he wasn’t with the starting defense for its only series of the game. But the next time the Pittsburgh Steelers got the ball, Hunter was at cornerback.
And so begins one of the NFL’s grand experiments.
Hunter started the game, which Pittsburgh won 31-25, along with the rest of the Jaguars’ regular starting offense including quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Hunter was in on 11 of 12 snaps on the first drive (including a play wiped out due to a penalty) and he ran seven routes.
Hunter was involved early too. He caught a pass on a short option route on third down, though he was a yard short of the sticks. The Jaguars went for it on fourth down and converted. Later in the drive, Hunter got a catch on a receiver screen, though the play was erased due to an offensive penalty. He caught another third-down pass later in the drive, though was short of the first down again and the Jaguars kicked a field goal. His night ended with a pair of catches for 9 yards.
The Jaguars used their starting defense but Hunter didn’t see any action on that side of the ball, though he did warm up on both sides before the game. The Steelers attempted seven passes on nine downs on their opening drive, but Hunter wasn’t at cornerback for any of them.
Jaguars fans didn’t have to wait long. Hunter was in with the second-team defense for Pittsburgh’s second drive. He did miss a tackle on a 7-yard run by fellow rookie Kaleb Johnson of the Steelers, but the rest of his snaps on defense over two drives (eight snaps on defense overall) were uneventful.
Hunter was one of the most intriguing prospects in the history of the NFL. Not many players come into the league with hopes to play on offense and defense on a nearly full-time basis. But Hunter excelled at it in college, and the Jaguars clearly think he can do it in the pros.
How Hunter is used when the regular season starts will be worth watching, but we got a taste of it in Jacksonville’s first preseason game.