Though it's finally coming to an end, it's been quite an offseason for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Owner Shad Kahn cleaned house before bringing in head coach Liam Coen, general manager James "I traded for Travis Hunter" Gladstone, and executive vice president of football operations Tony Boselli. Fast forward to Week 1, and the Jags looked poised to hit the ground running.
Talking heads around the league have spent their careers voicing their thoughts on the Jaguars—normally to get a laugh, and often dismissively. Yet rookie Travis Hunter is drawing a different kind of attention.
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Jaguars 2-way star Travis Hunter is predicted to win both OROY and DROY
Look, they're called "bold predictions" for a reason, so it's no surprise that Garrett Podell of CBS Sports is perhaps reaching a little bit when he suggests that the former Colorado Buffalo could win both offensive and defensive rookie of the year. Since the awards' inception in 1967, no player has won both. That's no surprise, considering no one has ever tried to do what the reigning Heisman trophy winner is looking to accomplish.
Not long ago, Hunter made the confident statement that he'd rather quit football than be restricted to one position. "It's never playing football again," he told CBS Sports prior to the draft (ironically reported by the same Garrett Podell). "Because I've been doing it my whole life, and I love being on the football field. I feel like I could dominate on each side of the ball, so I really enjoy doing it."
And it's not been a problem for the Jaguars' new leadership. When James Gladstone and company traded up to draft Hunter at No. 2, they had every intention to play him on both sides of the ball.
Not long ago, Jaguars senior writer John Oesher reported, "A priority in the Jaguars' plan has been to use Hunter's time efficiently. On days when he has worked 'exclusively' with the offense in seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 situations, he also worked individually with defensive coaches. And vice versa."
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Final thoughts
While there's sure to be more than a small learning curve for rookie Travis Hunter, I expect that the Jaguars will find a way to have him on the grass as often as they can, especially if he plays like he did at Colorado. Can he win both offensive and defensive rookie of the year? Maybe, though I anticipate fans being happy with either. It's been a while since the Jaguars won an award of any kind.
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