It was just a few snaps, but 2024 Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter made his NFL exhibition debut on Saturday.
Well, two debuts, one on offense and one on defense, precisely as the confident and exciting playmaker promised he would earlier this year during the draft evaluation period.
Hunter, the second overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, is determined to be a difference maker on both sides of the ball, just as his college coach at Colorado, Deion Sanders, was decades earlier.
Jaguar coaches, teammates, fans and opponents got a brief taste of what that might look like, albeit with vanilla results.
Hunter played 10 snaps on offense — all on the Jags’ opening drive — and eight on defense, getting his feet, er, cleats wet in his first live action in the NFL, coming against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He caught a pair of passes — one for six yards and another for three — while also playing cornerback. He played five snaps on Jacksonville’s second defensive series and a few after.
Said Hunter after his debut: “I felt great. A little nervous, but it felt great. It definitely settled down when I got the first catch, really when the first play started.”
Said Jaguar coach Liam Coen: “I think he made a couple good catches on some option routes. He missed the one tackle defensively that I noticed, like that was the only thing that I kind of noticed. In terms of his about his overall play, I’ll have to watch the tape on how he operated defensively a little bit more, but I thought offensively he made the right decisions on those option routes. He made a good catch and almost broke out of that one.”
Hunter and the Jags return to action on Sunday against New Orleans.
Hunter’s Colorado teammate, fellow Heisman Top 10 finisher and NFL rookie Shedeur Sanders also debuted this weekend, tossing a pair of second-half touchdowns for Cleveland in the Browns’ exhibition win over Carolina. Overall, he passed for 138 yards on 14-of-23 passing.
Hunter and Sanders were not alone among 2024 Heisman Top 10 vote-getters making their NFL exhibition debuts.
Heisman runner-up Ashton Jeanty carried the ball three times for the Las Vegas Raiders in his first action.
Fellow Heisman finalist and No. 1 NFL draft pick Cam Ward made his debut with the Titans, completing 5-of-8 passes for 67 yards and also directed a touchdown drive.
Seventh-place Heisman finisher Tyler Warren caught three passes for 40 yards in his pro debut with Indianapolis and was thrown to on the Colts’ second play of the game. Kyle McCord, the 10th-place finisher in 2024 Heisman voting, played briefly for the Eagles in the fourth quarter, attempting one pass.
Heisman finalist Dillon Gabriel and fifth-place finisher Cam Skattebo both sat out the first week, nursing minor injuries.
A handful of Heisman winners saw early exhibition action, including 2019 winner Joe Burrow, who threw for 123 yards and two scores in a loss to Philadelphia.
Bryce Young competed 4-of-6 passes and one touchdown for Carolina in brief action against the Browns.
Arizona’s Kyler Murray completed 7-of-8 passes for 96 yards, his lone incompletion an interception.
The dean of active NFL Heisman winners, Jameis Winston, completed 7-of-11 passes with a TD for the Giants.