Now that the NFL Draft is over, it’s time for rookies to start getting familiar with their new organizations with rookie minicamp kicking off this weekend. Rookie minicamps are effectively two- or three-day orientations for draft picks, undrafted free agents and tryout players to get acclimated to teams, coaching staffs and different departments in their team’s facilities.
Normally, there isn’t too much to get super worked up about for the first unpadded practices of their NFL lives, but this year is different.
Advertisement
Because of Travis Hunter.
After a college career in which he dominated as a wide receiver and cornerback, Hunter has been dead set on playing both ways in the NFL like he did in college. Handling the intricacies of an offensive and defensive playbook might be a lot, but the Jaguars and their fans, as well as overall fans of the sport, will start to get their very first bits of answers to one of the most fascinating stories in league history.
There have been NFL players who have dabbled playing both ways. Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, who famously coached Hunter at Jackson State and Colorado, dabbled at playing wide receiver and had a career-high 475 yards for the Dallas Cowboys in 1996 on 67 targets — by far the most offensive usage of his career. Hunter is trying to do far more than that. The fact that he even has a chance to credibly give this an effort says everything about Hunter’s overall talent. It’s the truest definition of a two-way player there’s been seen since … maybe Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik? Hunter is a once-in-a-lifetime type of talent and the Jacksonville Jaguars clearly felt that way too, sending their 2026 first-round draft pick as part of a package to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for the second overall pick that became Hunter.
Advertisement
There’s a long way to go before the Jaguars kick off their regular season, but the extravagant equation of figuring out exactly how much football is too much for Hunter in the NFL starts Friday through Sunday at Jacksonville’s rookie minicamp. There are no guarantees in the draft and every single player could wind up a bust or a disappointment in relation to their draft stock. However, Jaguars fans can realistically talk themselves into three different outcomes for Hunter this year and for his career:
-
Hunter and Brian Thomas Jr. form the most athletically gifted duo of wide receivers in the league and significantly raise the floor of Jacksonville’s offense.
-
Hunter plays across from Tyson Campbell, who is a fantastic cornerback himself. Even if Campbell isn’t on the field, Hunter has the skills and traits to be a lockdown cornerback in the NFL.
-
Some form of both happens at the same time.
All three of those outcomes would be massive boosts for the Jaguars and likely make them feel OK about giving up their future first-round selection. The third scenario is the one that people are hyper fixated on. That’s the one that hasn’t been seen and it’s something everyone wants to see — Hunter himself.
According to first-year head coach Liam Coen, the Jaguars’ plan is to mimic what Colorado did in terms of workload to give Hunter the best chance of playing both ways. “We have it laid out,” Coen said at Hunter’s introductory media conference. “But we also have to have the ability to be agile and be fluid on specific days. If we don’t feel like he got enough work on one side of the ball the previous day, then we need to be able to move forward and get him those reps the next day.”
Advertisement
Coen also mentioned he is on the same wavelength as his offensive and defensive coordinators as far as giving this two-way player thing the best shot they possibly can.
For all that, it’s probably safe to declare Travis Hunter’s rookie minicamp the most interesting rookie minicamp that’s ever existed — yes, even more than Shedeur Sanders and his standing with the Browns. Being the most interesting story at a rookie minicamp is a very low bar, but like everything else in Hunter’s career up to now, he’s empathetically soaring over it.
Read the full article here
