Earlier this year, the Jacksonville Jaguars acquired Travis Hunter. Many are wondering how the team plans to use him, but head coach Liam Coen has developed a strategy to let him shine as both a wide receiver and a cornerback.
A player like Travis Hunter is a rare sight in the NFL. He honed his skills at both wide receiver and cornerback during college, and he’s committed to continuing that dual-role approach at the professional level.
While many analysts believe Hunter will eventually have to focus on one position, the Jaguars think otherwise. The AFC South club recognizes the unique talent they have and the potential impact he can make on both sides of the ball.
HC Liam Coen explains how the Jaguars are working to develop Travis Hunter
When the Jaguars traded up in the 2025 NFL Draft, it was clear they were targeting Travis Hunter. He was widely regarded as a top-tier prospect—one capable of transforming a franchise.
Hunter is a true dual-threat, excelling as both a wide receiver and a cornerback. He developed these skills while playing at Colorado under Coach Deion Sanders, who also played both positions during his Hall of Fame NFL career.
Sanders’ experience helped Hunter grow into a rare two-way talent. However, the NFL is a much more demanding stage, and many wonder if Hunter can truly succeed in both roles at the next level.
Despite the challenges, the Jaguars believe he can. That’s why head coach Liam Coen has unveiled the team’s development plan, designed to help their first-round pick contribute on both offense and defense.
“We built a plan and then sat him down and really talked through it,” Jaguars coach Liam Coen said on the “Pat McAfee Show.” “How does he learn? What is the best ways that he learns? We did gain some of that information throughout the draft process, but when you actually sit down with him and get a feeling, ‘Well, he likes to walk-through more than sit in a meeting-room setting, so let’s do more walk-throughs.’ Every day he was on offense, he also met with the defensive staff in the afternoons, and vice versa.
“Typically throughout this offseason, he was on one side of ball in practice, and he didn’t flip-flop. Today, he did. And he played both sides of the ball in practice today and that will have to continue on throughout training camp where he’s playing on both sides of the ball and getting that mental and physical endurance throughout the training camp, because that’s what he’s going to have to do in games. So ultimately, we’re building a foundation right now of both sides of the football, but he’s going to have to do both in practice because that’s what the game is going to be like, and we’ll sit down and reevaluate what we did this spring to see what’s the best moving forward.”
Why hasn’t Travis Hunter signed his rookie contract yet?
Travis Hunter remains the only top-10 pick from the 2025 NFL Draft who has not signed his rookie contract. While his four-year, $46.571 million deal is locked in by the rookie wage scale, there are still aspects being negotiated.
According to Ian Rapoport, Hunter is currently discussing the timing of his signing bonus payout, along with the incentive structure of his contract. Because he’s expected to play both offense and defense, outlining fair and measurable incentives has proven to be more complex than usual.