The noise of Travis Hunter playing exclusively at cornerback is getting louder each day in Duval. The practice reports from John Shipley about Hunter practicing only at CB for the last 2 weeks are adding more smoke to the camp chatter.
Jaguars head coach Liam Coen is sticking to his guns on Hunter’s role, backing up the promise made on draft night to play him on both sides.
Bombarded with all the noise, Coen shut down every speculation on the Rich Eisen Show, saying Hunter will be limited to just one side of the ball in 2026.
“Absolutely. We’ll definitely have a package on offense to be able to get him some opportunities,” Coen said.
Liam Coen Defends Travis Hunter’s Two-way Role
Defending the division of reps, Coen explained Hunter’s increased workload at cornerback.
“There’s been a steady increase in his defensive work just by nature of where we’re at on defense and continuing to try to create consistency. There’s been a lot of detail and time-on-task this offseason. He’ll absolutely have a plan on offense. ”
“Let’s pump the brakes and just give the guy a chance to get back from obviously a pretty serious injury in which he’s worked his tail off to get himself into the position where he can continue to do those things,” Coen added.
The argument holds up. In the inital 53-man roster, Jaguars listed Hunter as the primary cornerback, with virtually no depth behind him, while being the secondary depth at wide receiver.
The Jaguars receiving corps this season is an embarrassment of riches with Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers, and Brian Thomas Jr.
On the other side of the ball, though, they simply don’t have that luxury. And that is nothing new.
ESPN Insider Predicts Travis Hunter as Full-Time CB
Pointing exactly that out as one of the primary reasons, ESPN’s Dan Grazziano saw Hunter as a full-time cornerback with occasional cameo appearances at receiver, if they need depth that is.
“The Jaguars still believe Hunter can contribute on offense in addition to defense, and he sort of has to in order to justify the move they made to get him in the 2025 draft,” Graziano writes.
“But Hunter is coming off a major knee injury, and the team will be cautious about his overall workload this season. He has worked a lot more at corner than wide receiver this offseason, mainly because corner is where the Jaguars have more of a need. Last year, they believed they were thinner in the wide receiver room, and Hunter got more work on offense during camp.”
The injury after just 12 starts is another solid piece of evidence why the Jags might limit his role. He needs to show he can play. Hunter dropped 10 pounds this offseason to prove that, but actually managing the snaps on a Saturday night is the real test.
“Jags coach Liam Coen has cautioned against assuming Hunter will play only defense this season. It’s certainly to Jacksonville’s benefit for opponents to at least wonder if they’ll see him on offense. But the prediction here is that, while Hunter might evolve into more of a two-way NFL player in future years, Jacksonville will try to keep things simple for him as he works his way back from last year’s season-ending injury,” Graziano wrote.
Coen has maintained his stance, and so have the analysts the entire offseason. We’ll find out whose bet actually pays off when the cleats hit the turf on Sep. 13.
Jaguars HC Drops Clear Statement on Travis Hunter’s Role on Offense