We haven’t seen many two-way players like Travis Hunter smoothly transition to the NFL. Manning both sides of the ball, let alone one, is daunting, especially at a high level. But he’s a uniquely talented weapon, an outlier, an anomaly, or however else you want to describe his exceptional oddity.
General manager James Gladstone and the Jacksonville Jaguars are betting on Hunter’s rare profile. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have paid a premium to move up three spots and select the wide receiver and cornerback second overall in this year’s draft. Nonetheless, Kansas City Chiefs superstar tight end Travis Kelce suggests teams could use the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner’s versatility against them.
Chiefs TE Travis Kelce thinks teams will test Travis Hunter’s endurance
Kelce gave a resounding “hell yes” when retired linebacker Will Compton asked him if he thinks Hunter will be good in the pros. He declared the Jaguars’ new franchise cornerstone a “world class athlete.” Yet, the future Hall of Famer proceeded by dousing the praise with cold water, pointing out that fatigue will factor into how opponents attack Jacksonville.
“Both sides? See … I don’t know how [the Jaguars are] going to divy it out,” Kelce pondered aloud on Compton’s Bussin’ With The Boys podcast. “Teams are going to be going after [Hunter] … they’re going to try and make his day miserable.”
Moreover, Kelce notes that rival squads will “run deep balls” at Hunter “all day” and test his stamina, which is a fair strategy. Imagine facing the Chiefs and getting covered by All-Pro defensive back Trent McDuffie after wideout Xavier Worthy ran a go route. We’re getting tired just writing that sentence.
Not every pass-catcher will be as quick as Worthy, who ran the fastest 40-yard dash in Scouting Combine history. And there aren’t many shutdown corners like McDuffie, so the Chiefs are far more equipped to deploy the strategy of draining Hunter. But this is a copycat league; if Kansas City can do it successfully, others will follow suit.
Hunter’s greatest strength as a Swiss Army knife is what appealed to the Jaguars. It’s why they mortgaged their future, sending a 2026 first-round pick among other draft capital to the Cleveland Browns to call his name. Meanwhile, others like Kelce see his malleability as something that can be exploited, setting up a push-versus-pull battle.
Are the Jaguars cognizant of what Travis Kelce, the Chiefs and the NFL might do to slow down Travis Hunter?
How much the Jags put on Hunter’s plate bears watching. For whatever it’s worth, Jacksonville’s chief football strategy officer, Tony Khan, ostensibly doesn’t envision him as a full-time offensive and defensive option.
“I think there’s going to be different game flow,” Khan stated on The Rich Eisen Show. “Different games have different flows, but I know [Hunter’s] going to contribute and play a lot of snaps on both sides of the ball … 100 [snaps] is a lot, man.”
Given how much the Jags have invested in Hunter, he needs to work. The Jags are going to do everything they can to put him in a position to succeed from Day 1. Could that mean a reduced workload early on to ensure his skill set is maximized?
