Though Travis Hunter, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, is helping flip that narrative on its head as a two-way standout. Next week, he’ll do it while playing defense for the Jacksonville Jaguars. It’s a big move for the gifted athlete. He really stood out playing both ways, as an offensive playmaker at the receiver position and a ballhawk on defense at Colorado.
Last year, Hunter was incredibly busy, averaging 113.9 snaps per game and playing a whopping 1,481 snaps overall. His contributions on offense were huge as well, with 1,258 receiving yards and 15 receiving touchdowns. On defense, he clearly established his artistry with four interceptions. The Jaguars chose Hunter first, with the No. 2 overall pick. There was something special about him. That is, they signed him precisely because of his talent and potential.
Hunter will have a lot of eyes on him as he starts his new journey on defense the last week of the Phase Two of offseason conditioning program. Assistant head coach and Jaguars coordinator Liam Coen added that Hunter has indeed begun learning the team’s defensive playbook.
He’s had a chance to really, to really get into learn a lot of our three-deep coverages,” added Coen. He already has all these calls down. If he needs to fill the back side on a three-by-one set, he’s down.
While Hunter has mostly looked at things through an offensive lens, he has spent a good amount of time learning the ins and outs of these complex defensive schemes. He acknowledged the differences between the two positions, saying, “Just longer calls and concepts are different [on offense than defense]. You’ve just got to get used to it.”
Hunter’s adjustment to defense comes as part of a strategic decision by the Jaguars’ coaching staff. Coen detailed that the goal for his offensive players was to get their initial contact down enough before letting Hunter shift into defensive positions.
We wanted to take care of some things that we may not have caught up on yesterday. Today, we concentrated more on getting him some advanced reps on the offensive side of the ball and next week he’s going to start getting some work over there and begin progressing on that side of the ball.
As Hunter prepares for his first appearance on defense with the Jaguars, he remains focused on mastering the new playbook. Despite not spending as much time studying it compared to the offensive playbook, he is determined to adapt and contribute effectively.
You’ve only got to deal with it, Hunter said about the difficulties of making the positional change.
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