When the Jacksonville Jaguars traded up in the 2025 NFL Draft to snag two-way star Travis Hunter, the plan was always to let him play both sides of the ball. Aside from the fact that the young Colorado star went so far as to say he'd "never play football again" if he couldn't play both, the Jaguars spent too much draft capital to NOT let him play as often as possible.
With the caveat that college ball and the NFL are essentially two different sports, I'd like to point out that Hunter excelled at Colorado. In addition to the Heisman trophy, he won the Associated Press Player of the Year, the Walter Camp Award as national player of the year, the Chuck Bednarik Award as the top defensive player, and the Fred Biletnikoff Award for the best wide receiver. That's quite the list of accolades, and it's especially telling that he was recognized for his efforts on offense and defense.
However, a former NFL head coach remains unfazed.
Rex Ryan claims the Jaguars should stick Hunter in the backfield and forget about playing him at WR
Look, I get it. Talking heads have to talk; otherwise, they don't have a job. And if you don't have a winning record as a head coach, what else are you going to do? And you can trust me—as a Jaguars fan, I'm well-acquainted with coaches who don't have winning records.
When asked about Hunter on ESPN's Get Up, former Bills and Dolphins head coach Rex Ryan said, "Are you kidding me? Not going to happen...He's out there for 44 plays on offense. Defense, he played six plays, then gets one tackle. Hey, Jacksonville, what are you doing, man?"
He continued, "It's a hell of a lot harder to find a corner than it is a receiver. Put him as a starting corner, and let's make him special as a corner. Forget all that other jazz about him playing both ways. We get it. You wasted an extra first-round pick. Put him at corner, and let them make a difference at corner."
He didn't stop there: "In other words, you're going to get an average-ass receiver and an average-ass corner. Because that's what's going to happen." X users reacted, some backing up Ryan and others stating their belief in Hunter's ability to play offense and defense.
Related:Jaguars draft pick gifted new life after surprise Tank Bigsby trade
General manager James Gladstone and the Jaguars always planned to let Hunter play offense and defense
We talked briefly about coaches without winning records. Time will tell where new head coach Liam Coen fits in, though for now, he's undefeated as a head coach. He, along with general manager James "I walk around with a football all day" Gladstone, long ago decided to use rookie Travis Hunter in as many schemes as possible. And, as Gladstone points out, that in itself is an advantage.
"There's a competitive advantage to not knowing what side of the ball he's going to be deployed on fully," Gladstone said. "If that's half, if that's a mixture … all those sorts of things can vary from one week to the next."
Related: Do the Jaguars have a glorified game manager in Trevor Lawrence?
Final thoughts
Overall, it's been one week. One. And Travis Hunter missed a ton of training camp and the preseason with a back injury, so his involvement in Week 1 was always going to be less than ideal. Let the Jaguars cook, let the new leaders and players show you what they can do. Then, if it doesn't work, you can go back and listen to Rex Ryan.
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