Bullet point summary by AI
- The Jacksonville Jaguars are shifting Travis Hunter to play more at cornerback in 2026, creating concerns over his development.
- GM James Gladstone confirmed Hunter will see an uptick in defensive snaps. This follows a rookie year where he primarily played wide receiver before an injury.
- Consistent usage is vital for a dual-threat star. Flip-flopping his primary role risks stalling his growth and may frustrate him enough to leave in free agency.
You might as well put a question mark next to Travis Hunter’s name on the Jacksonville Jaguars roster because it feels like his position changes day to day. Well, the team’s general manager, James Gladstone, gave a definitive answer on Wednesday. For now.
“He is set to play both sides of the ball,” he told The Rich Eisen Show. “The piece that I think we can expect to see is actually an uptick in corner usage. Last year it was a higher volume, higher percentage of wide receiver usage than it was corner. I think we can expect to see that corner percentile and count go up. That’s not to say anything impacts his availability and usage on offense. It just means that cornerback usage will increase.”
Gladstone’s clarification comes on the heels of conflicting reports that emerged in April claiming the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner would be playing more at cornerback than wide receiver. Hunter waded into the conversation himself to refute that one.
Now who told you this? https://t.co/0sIzJgrH5L
— Travis Hunter (@TravisHunterJr) April 12, 2026
Jaguars’ apparent reversal on Travis Hunter’s usage could hurt his career
While it appears Hunter’s 2026 usage is rather solidified, Gladstone’s answer didn’t include a denial of the previous month’s reporting. That suggests, albeit flimsily, that the team was perhaps taking its time in mulling where Hunter will best serve the team this season. For a developing player, that kind of indecision and strategic shifting by coaches can stunt growth.
Last year, Hunter played 324 offensive snaps and 162 defensive snaps in seven games before a knee injury ended his rookie season early. He caught 28 balls for 298 yards and a touchdown on offense to pair with 15 tackles on defense. In college, he racked up 171 catches for 2,169 yards and 24 scores as a receiver along with 62 solo tackles and nine interceptions on defense across three years.
Jacksonville needs help in their secondary and it looks like Gladstone just admitted they’d rather squeeze every possible snap out of Hunter there instead of bringing in a depth defender to make up for the times Hunter has to hit the sideline.
If that’s the case, fine but make sure the team is training Hunter to do that throughout his career. You can’t have a player expecting to prioritize offense — like Hunter indicated in his X post and clearly how he played most of last season — and then turn around and tell him he’s going to be more of a defender this year.
You also want to keep Hunter happy. Lest Jacksonville frustrates him by such inconsistent usage and he decides to leave once his contract is up for a team that will let him play where he feels he does best.
I’m not saying Hunter is at a Deion Sanders level of play just yet, but his former Colorado coach had a consistent playing style that allowed him to dominate both sides of the ball. Hunter can reach that level with more consistency in how he’s used rather than experimenting.
That kind of confusion will affect his mental approach to the game. Inconsistency will kill his development. Let him do his thing or risk losing the effectiveness you drafted him for.
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