Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce thinks teams will run deep routes on Travis Hunter.
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Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce thinks teams will run deep routes on Travis Hunter.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is like everyone else. He has no idea what the Jacksonville Jaguars plan is for rookie Travis Hunter. Hunter and his usage at the NFL level might be the most talked about offseason topic in the league this year outside of Shedeur Sanders. Even then, the Sanders talk has died down significantly since the draft in April.
During a recent episode of the “Bussin’ with the Boys” podcast, the four-time, first-team All Pro said that while he was uncertain what the plan would be for him on offense (wide receiver), if the Jaguars were planning on using him a lot on both sides of the ball, he knows how he’d attack him on defense (cornerback).
“Teams are going to be going after him,” Kelce said. “They’re going to try and make his day miserable…Dude, if he plays corner, they’re just going to run deep balls at him all day.”
It’s as good of a theory as any. Teams will just try to wear him out?
“The wide receivers just take off on him all day,” Kelce continued. “Just to try to get him tired. Why wouldn’t you just attack him that way?”
The problem there is that Hunter is a freak of an athlete with seemingly never-ending stamina. He doesn’t seem to have the self awareness to know he’ll be tired. It doesn’t even cross his mind.
Hunter’s athletic calendar for 2025 is far different than 2024
Last year, the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner played 688 defensive snaps and 672 on offense in 13 games. That’s 12 regular season games and one playoff game and the season ended before New Year’s Eve.
Before the draft, he was on SiriusXM NFL Radio and was asked whether he wants to play offense or defense.
“Both,” he said. “Just like you saw me play [last year].”
Okay, but how many snaps would that be?
“All of them if they gave me the chance and the opportunity to do it,” Hunter said.
That sounds fantastic and his ambition is beyond admirable, but even Hunter doesn’t know what his body could handle at this point because he’s never been through the rigors of an NFL season. Not his fault, it’s just a fact.
Hunter started 2025 with the pre-draft process, which involves intense preparation and training. He gets drafted by the Jaguars, then has OTAs and mandatory minicamps while he waits for training camp. That’s another month of daily hard work in the summer Florida heat with three preseason games (let’s be honest he’ll hardly play in those).
Then, it’s an 18-week NFL season with 17 games (remember how he played in 13 total last year?). It’s a big “if” here, but if the Jaguars make the playoffs, that’s another game and we’re now into January. Luckily for his body, his team won four games last year so the idea that the Jags will make a deep run into February is laughable as we sit here right now.
That’s a very long stretch for anyone, let alone someone that’s never done it before. The “rookie wall” is a real thing.
It’s been a long time since the NFL had a true two-way player
There is a reason you don’t see any two-way players in the NFL anymore. Sure, there have been plenty of guys like Deion Sanders, Troy Brown and Julian Edelman (to name a few) who have lined up occasionally on the opposite side of their normal position, but that’s not the same as being full-time on both sides.
The last NFL player to do it was Philadelphia Eagles legend Chuck Bednarik. The Hall of Famer played center and linebacker from 1949-1962 and played every single snap in the 1960 Championship Game win over the Green Bay Packers at 35-years old. It’s been 63 years since anyone has done it and for good reason.
You couldn’t ask for a better attitude from Hunter and everyone is eager to see how this all plays out for him. He even broke down a daily schedule before the draft of why he’d be able to play full-time on both sides of the ball.
“Well, we’ve kind of got 24 hours in a day,” he said. “We probably for about sleep eight of those, so we’ve probably got 16 more. All of them dedicated to football.”