Raiders coach Pete Carroll saw early on what Travis Hunter could be in the NFL during the pre-draft process.
“I (liked him), yes. Certainly,” Carroll said this week. “I would have loved to have played him both ways, too. I would have loved to have had the chance to do that. That’s what we talked about in the interview, and he was right on it as far as the mentality that it would take to do something like that.”
The Raiders never got the chance to take Hunter, the former Colorado wide receiver/cornerback. The Jaguars traded up to select the reigning Heisman Trophy winner with the No. 2 overall pick in April’s draft.
Carroll won’t get the chance to game plan for Hunter this week, either. The 22-year-old suffered a knee injury in practice Thursday and will miss Sunday’s game at Allegiant Stadium.
That doesn’t change the respect and admiration the Raiders have for him.
Big loss
Hunter’s absence looms large for Jacksonville, which is fighting for a playoff berth.
He’s coming off his best game yet. He caught eight passes for 101 yards and his first NFL touchdown in the Jaguars’ 35-7 loss to the Rams in London on Oct. 19. Coach Liam Coen had suggested Hunter was set to take on an even larger role on offense coming out of the team’s bye week.
Those plans are now on hold.
But Jacksonville doesn’t just have to replace a talented receiver that has played almost 70 percent of the team’s snaps on offense. Hunter has also played 36 percent of the Jaguars’ defensive snaps.
“They lose at least one and a half (players) in terms of play time and all that, but they’ve really been featuring him more on offense lately,” Carroll said. “But we think he’s terrific as a coverage guy, and he’s just such a good all-around athlete. I mean, all of the buildup and the hype and the Heisman and all that was warranted, man. He’s a great football player.”
Coen said his team at least has experience playing without Hunter because he would alternate days with the offense and defense during training camp.
“There was some tweaks that had to be made (to the game plan) for sure,” Coen said. “It’s not like anything like this is ever seamless. But we have dealt with it in training camp all the way through. (The) days that he was on defense, the offense didn’t have him, and vice versa.”
It’s impossible to say whether Hunter’s ambitious workload contributed to his knee injury, but it does raise questions moving forward. He is expected to be placed on injured reserve and miss at least four games.
Mentally strong
The physical toll of playing both offense and defense in the NFL is hard to measure. Carroll never doubted Hunter’s mindset, however.
“The first thing I asked him when we interviewed him was, ‘Is this any big deal to go both ways?’” Carroll said. “He said, ‘No, no way.’ I mean, he took it like I thought he would, because the only way he could have done that through his college years and all that was to have a great attitude about it. It was never even a burden to him. He’s been playing both ways since he was in little league football and he hasn’t known it any different. So, it seems so unique to everybody for this to occur, but it isn’t to him.”
Raiders rookie wide receiver Jack Bech has seen Hunter’s prowess up close. Bech went up against Hunter two seasons ago when his TCU squad got beat at home by Colorado in Hunter’s FBS debt.
Hunter caught 11 passes for 119 yards that day while also intercepting a pass and recording three tackles on defense.
“He’s definitely a special player,” Bech said.
Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly used the exact same phrase. Kelly had to go against Hunter in 2023 when he was the coach at UCLA. Hunter had three catches on offense and intercepted two passes on defense.
“I think he played every snap on offense and defense in the game,” Kelly said. “He’s truly a unicorn when it comes to that. I think his competitive stamina, that’s the one thing I always kind of marvel at, because this league is tough and every play counts in this league. And if you’re running 60 plays on offense, it’s taking everything you have to run those 60 plays on offense. And then you flip around and you’ve got to play defense.”
Kelly pointed to little details that make Hunter’s life more difficult. He can’t be coached or study an iPad on the sideline between drives because he has to go right back on the field.
“I’ve always kind of marveled at what he can do,” Kelly said. “I know a lot of people doubt him. But I’ve seen him in person and I don’t doubt him. He’s a heck of a football player, and it’s impressive what he’s doing right now.”
Substance over style
Hunter plays two of the flashiest positions on the field, but he isn’t really a diva.
That’s one of the first things that stood out to Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham when he watched film this week. Hunter wasn’t just running routes on offense. He was willing to block, too.
“To see a guy coming in with that stature and that pedigree, I mean, he was blocking somebody and he did a good job,” said Graham, who enjoyed Hunter’s personality when they met at the scouting combine. “Almost pancaked them, so it was an interesting play to see. That’s what stood out, aside from his obvious wide receiver skills.”
Hunter’s toughness is something that has stood out to Raiders quarterback Geno Smith.
“He’s an electrifying playmaker, man,” Smith said. “He’s got great ball skills, as you can see, he plays offense and defense. I mean, the kid plays hard and loves the game. He’s fearless. You can see that in the way that he plays. And I just enjoy guys who love football, and he’s really a guy who I think loves football.”
A trend?
Several Raiders players marveled about not just Hunter’s physical ability to play two positions at a high level, but the mental acuity it takes to learn two playbooks as a rookie.
“It’s so tough,” said running back Raheem Mostert, who himself was a great defensive player in high school in Florida. “Kudos to him. It’s so hard at a high level like the NFL. I was able to do it in high school. Probably in college had they allowed me to as well, but it’s different in the NFL and honestly, I think he’s handling it well. It seems like he’s leaning more to offense, but for him to have the capacity to learn both shows a resilient mindset and how much they believe in him.”
Mostert said he would volunteer to play some defense if needed because he was a gunner on special teams early in his NFL career. That’s a role running back Dylan Laube has also filled for the Raiders, and Mostert thinks Laube could be a nasty defender if called upon.
“Sure, I’ll give it a shot,” Laube said, laughing. “But it’s cool what (Hunter is) doing. So impressive. It’s so hard to play one side of the ball at a high level. Both sides is unreal, especially as a receiver. You have to know formations and concepts and routes. Now you have to go to the other side and learn calls and coverages and techniques. That’s wild.”
Raiders cornerback Darien Porter knows all about it. He was a wide receiver his first three years in college at Iowa State before switching over todefense.
“It’s definitely difficult,” Porter said. “I give a lot of credit to those who can do it. It’s totally different playbooks and that’s before you even talk about how athletically difficult it is. It can’t be easy. As a rookie, you’re just trying to figure everything out. Now you have to learn two positions.”
Still, Porter would be willing to give it a try if asked. So would cornerback Eric Stokes, at least temporarily.
“I’d want nowhere near as many reps,” Stokes said. “I could see me going over to offense for a play or two and that’s it for a game. But not having multiple snaps and then still having to do it on defense. That’s a lot. I give (Hunter) kudos on that.”
Most Raiders players are confident in their ability to at least give a good effort on the other side of the ball. It’s possible Hunter can be a pioneer in that regard.
“It’s very unheard of what he’s doing,” wide receiver Tre Tucker said. “For him to do it, it honestly sets a standard where maybe it’s the new thing. Maybe we’ll see more of it. It’s pretty cool.”
Bech sounded more than willing to play some defense if asked.
“If they needed me to, I’d go smack something,” he said.
Defensive back Darnay Holmes, a two-way superstar at Calabasas High School in California, may be the most qualified candidate on the Raiders’ roster.
“Just check the tape,” Holmes said, smiling.
But he knows how special and unique what Hunter is trying to do in the NFL is.
“When his kid grows up, he’s going to be proud to know his pops was able to do things only a few people could do in the NFL,” Holmes said. “So salute to that for sure.”
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.