While I applaud the Jacksonville Jaguars for having the stones to move up from No. 5 to No. 2 take 2024 Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter out of Colorado, I am not sure they have the best plan in place to best utilize his generational talent. New general manager James Gladstone literally has stone in his last name, so I can get behind him being a bit of an emerging evil genius for this AFC franchise.
My biggest concern is Liam Coen as head coach. He is every bit the offensive mind, leading me to think they will use Hunter primarily as a wide receiver, while occasionally sprinkling him in as a defensive back. Gladstone himself seemed to confirm as much after making the pick. I would do the exact opposite: Hunter was more of a cornerback coming out of high school in my neck of the woods in suburban Atlanta before later being converted into a wide receiver, and that seems to still be his best position.
In reading about Jacksonville's grand plans for Hunter over on The Athletic, I was pleasantly surprised to see the greatest player in Jaguars history, Tony Boselli, be their new executive vice president. To me, his voice carries more weight in all this because of who he is and what he means to the franchise. If he can be convinced of Gladstone's out-of-body vision, I can come to learn to like it.
Besides Coen, I think there is a reason why nobody plays both ways in the NFL anymore. It is simply too hard.
Jacksonville Jaguars' plan for Travis Hunter may have a lot of holes in it
I feel like I am taking crazy pills. It is so hard to be good at one thing, let alone two. If Hunter were entering the draft as strictly a cornerback, I would have had no problem with him being the No. 1 overall pick. Again, I am not all that high on Cam Ward as the Tennessee Titans' new franchise quarterback. Hunter may prefer to play wide receiver, but he will hit his NFL ceiling playing corner.
Even though his mentor Deion Sanders played both ways on the 1996 Dallas Cowboys, he is the greatest cover cornerback in NFL history, and a forgettable receiver. Then again, he did play two sports at the highest level as a speedy outfielder in MLB for a plethora of teams, including my beloved Atlanta Braves. He was a decent big-league player, but was an otherworldly NFL superstar.
You understand what I am getting at here, right? Being the very best at one thing is so incredibly difficult, so why take away time and effort for trying to do two things at once? Long gone are the days of Chuck Bednarik playing both ways for the Philadelphia Eagles several generations ago. He was called Concrete Charlie for a reason. Yes, he hit hard, but he had to sell cement as well.
I just look at this situation Hunter is going into with a great amount of skepticism. He may prove me wrong. Honestly, I kind of want him to. What keeps me second-guessing this big decision made by the Jaguars are the Jaguars themselves. They are consistently a bottom-eight team in the NFL. I am willing to give the new regime some grace, there is a fine line between fearlessness and recklessness.
I cannot wait to see what Hunter's representation tries to put forth negotiate his second contract.