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The Jaguars' early plan for acclimating No. 2 overall pick Travis Hunter has been to separate his offensive and defensive duties by day. The rookie spent the first two days of training camp with the offense, according to ESPN's Michael DiRocco, and then Day 3 on defense. That approach is reportedly meant to keep from Hunter feeling overloaded mentally as he learns a different playbook for each position.
DiRocco: "He splits his time between offensive and defensive meetings, and he said it's the mental part of trying to play both sides of the ball that's more challenging for him at this point than the physical part."
Hunter: "I need to be able to process everything fast, quick. When I'm on the defensive side, if the offense changes their strength, I've got to know what I'm doing right away. And if the offense changes the play, I got to know what I'm doing right away. So I like that we're starting off slow, getting me adjusted, making sure I know where I need to be on one side of the ball each day and then it [will] all come together. ... I just have to get to that point to where I understand both sides immediately."
HC Liam Coen: "It's probably harder -- I mentioned this before -- logistically for us as coaches to navigate it and make sure that we're making use of all his time. I think it doesn't bother him as much. He's pretty unfazed by some of this stuff. ... He's been great in terms of his attitude and just kind of the way he approaches it."
Hunter's obviously a talent you don't want to bet against. He's the only player ever to win both the Chuck Bednarik (top defensive player) and Fred Biletnikoff (top WR) awards, and added the Heisman. And then Jacksonville drafted him second overall.
His upside's immense on both sides of the ball. And there's no one blocking his ascension up the offensive depth chart.
But there's no real precedent for what the Jaguars and Hunter are trying to do. And even they're obviously figuring out just how much he can handle mentally.
That figuring-out process is bound to carry into the regular season, when Hunter will get his first real turn at reacting to opponent game plans on both sides of the ball. And we'll have to see exactly what that means for playing time.
Fortunately, Hunter's not absurdly priced at current ADP, checking in at WR29.
There's still some risk at that level if he doesn't become a player we can comfortably start this year. But you can navigate a mid-level WR3 not panning out.
The upside, of course, showed itself in a final college season that included this stat line:
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