The start of the great Travis Hunter experiment ended with a thud in the form of a season-ending knee injury.
A two-way star at Colorado, Hunter spent two thirds of his snaps (324 out of 489) on offense as a receiver during his rookie season, leading many to believe that might be where his long-term future would exist. Jaguars general manager James Gladstone pushed back against that notion Wednesday, revealing Hunter's total workload will increase on the defensive side in 2026.
"He is set to play both sides of the ball," Gladstone said on The Rich Eisen Show. "The piece that I think we can expect to see is actually an uptick in corner usage. Last year it was a higher volume, higher percentage of wide receiver usage than it was corner. I think we can expect to see that corner percentile and count go up. That's not to say anything impacts his availability and usage on offense. It just means that cornerback usage will increase."
Hunter played 162 snaps as a defender in seven games, recording 15 tackles and three passes defensed in a secondary that included Jarrian Jones, Tyson Campbell (who was later traded for Browns cornerback Greg Newsome II) and Montaric "Buster" Brown. With a greater need at receiver, coach Liam Coen decided to focus Hunter's efforts on the offensive side of the ball before Hunter's LCL injury required surgery, bringing his debut campaign to an abrupt end.
Considering Hunter's preparation for the 2026 season included recovering from surgery, it's surprising to hear Gladstone set such high workload expectations for Hunter in Year 2. He's expected to be a full participant in training camp, per Gladstone, but the thought of pushing a prized first-round pick further when he's coming off surgery could be concerning.
Jaguars leadership might argue Hunter is made for the challenge. The Heisman Trophy winner built his collegiate legend around tireless effort, averaging 117 snaps per game while playing at Colorado. By all accounts, Hunter was ramping up toward a larger workload before suffering the injury during practice. Placing him on such a track would stand as a continuation of those plans.
Rumblings out of Jacksonville have varied on how the Jaguars might distribute Hunter's reps between receiver and cornerback, with some reports suggesting he might end up becoming their primary corner and spend less time on offense. If offseason moves provide any hints, Jacksonville seemed to follow such a plan, adding two receivers in the draft while selecting Maryland safety Jalen Huskey with the No. 100 overall pick and neglecting cornerback entirely.
"It's not to say [his usage] won't increase on offense either, but it was lower on the defensive side this past season," Gladstone said. "We also have a different defensive cornerback room and the bodies are different than it was a year ago. Our roster construction is different than it was a year ago, so it's more fitting to slot him at corner than it was last year."
We're still two-plus months away from the start of training camp. Hunter has time to prepare for such expectations. They'll remain sky high for the 2025 No. 2 overall pick.
