Jacksonville Jaguars rookie Travis Hunter will attempt to play both ways at the NFL level, as he did while winning the Heisman Trophy in college at Colorado. With the physical rigors of an NFL season, star receiver Davante Adams isn’t sure that will be sustainable for Hunter.
Adams recently joined “The Pivot” and was asked about Hunter’s aspirations to be a full-time player on both sides of the ball. Adams said he doesn’t think it’s realistic, at least if Hunter is trying to reach his maximum potential at both receiver and cornerback.
“I don’t even think it’s possible to do for real, not at a high level,” Adams said.
Now entering his 12th NFL season and first with the Los Angeles Rams, Adams said he has seen what other players go through as full-time players on offense and special teams. That handful of extra plays each game can create a lot of wear and tear, and Hunter will essentially double his snaps.
“It’s hard enough to cover a punt and then be on one side,” Adams said. “I haven’t done it. I’m not acting like I’m on kickoff or punt, but I see the dudes. … You see my yardage versus the yardage of someone who starts on offense and plays special teams as well. That’s just a lot of mileage, man. I’m not even concerned so much if he can do it over the course of a game or a season. It’s more like how long is his career gonna be if he plays that many snaps? All you’re doing is doubling your risk of injury.”
The other thing that made Adams worry about the long-term health of Hunter as a two-way player is his frame. Hunter is listed at 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, and while that may allow him to make some freakishly athletic plays, it may be a hindrance when trying to bring down NFL-sized receivers and running backs.
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“You gotta tackle Derrick Henry with that frame,” Adams said. “He’s athletic as hell, but he better do some ninja shit if he wants to use that (frame) to get him down.”
While Hunter’s desire may be to play every snap on both sides of the ball, it seems as though the Jaguars are easing him into things on the defensive side. On the team’s first depth chart of training camp, Hunter was listed as a starting wide receiver on offense, but he was a second- or third-string cornerback on defense.
Jaguars coach Liam Coen is mindful of the mileage Hunter will accrue as a two-way player, so he will try to manage the rookie’s snaps where he can.
“I think it’s a hard number to probably come up with,” Coen said. “If you’re saying you’re playing 65-75 snaps on offense let’s call it, and if he’s playing 80% of those snaps or so. And then defensively, you look at trying to match that number as best as possible. … We wanna play him as much as we can, though. That’s the reality.”
Hunter showed that he could handle the two-way workload in college, but the NFL is a different beast with bigger opponents and five more regular season games. It should be intriguing to see exactly how Coen and the Jaguars handle their star rookie this fall.
