Jacksonville Jaguars’ second overall pick, Travis Hunter, has spent the majority of his time on the practice field at wide receiver during the team’s offseason programs.
It’s not a surprise that this is how things played out. From the jump, GM James Gladstone and Liam Coen have said that Hunter would be onboarded at the receiver position. But why has the priority for Hunter been at wideout in the early going?
Well, it’s not because that is his primary position over cornerback, as Gladstone explained recently when appearing on Sirius XM’s NFL radio. But rather, the Jaguars view cornerback as Hunter’s more natural position, so they want him to have more time at receiver.
“Our understanding that Travis is most naturally comfortable, most naturally in-tune on the defensive side of the ball.” Gladstone said. “We wanted to load him offensively throughout this window to ensure that by the time we got to training camp, we had a runway built up on that side because there is so much more nuance. So many more adjustments in real time on the offensive side of the ball that would require a lot more learning.
“So with this phase of the process sort of being rooted in that lens, that’s why we wanted to put the emphasis on offense, knowing that we would trickle in the defense a little bit more towards the back end of the offseason program and really as we get into training camp.”
While on the practice field, Hunter has seen more reps at receiver, he’s been learning the defensive playbook and terminology and in the meeting rooms since he arrived in Jacksonville.
As offseason programs unfolded, Hunter saw more practices where he was playing cornerback, and now the next step for him, once training camp begins, is to routinely practice on both sides of the ball on the same day, which will be a requirement during the regular season.
Up to this point, Hunter has mostly focused on playing either offense or defense, depending on what that specific day called for.
As far as what Hunter’s playing time on offense and defense will look like this season, that will remain fluid, as Gladstone also explained.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Jaguars’ Travis Hunter: Why he spent more time at wide receiver