Travis Hunter Listed as Starting WR, Backup CB in Jaguars' Week 1 Depth Chart

The Jacksonville Jaguars have offered a hint as to how Travis Hunter will split his time between offense and defense this year.

On the team's depth chart ahead of the team's Week 1's matchup against the Carolina Panthers, Hunter was listed as a starting wide receiver and backup cornerback:

That doesn't come as the biggest surprise—the Jags seemed to prioritize preparing Hunter for the offensive side of the ball earlier on, albeit with the plan to allow him to play both ways.

"His intent is on playing both sides of the ball, as is ours," general manager James Gladstone said back in April. "When it comes to his onboarding process we'll give him a heavy dose of offense, and sprinkle in the defensive side of the ball, knowing that by the time we get to the regular season, those should be balanced out. But that's the initial onboarding plan as it stands today."

Gladstone was clear that the Jags weren't prioritizing one over the other, however.

"I do think there's a little bit of a misconception in that it's wide receiver first, corner second, as much as it is the learning methodology of wide receiver through this phase and then continuing to trickle in more defense that is his primary background," he told reporters in June. 

Mike Jones of The Athletic further detailed how Hunter split his time in preparation for the 2025 season:

"The football education plan called for Hunter to focus primarily on receiver during offseason practices. Once training camp kicked off back in July, offense initially commanded most of his time as well: Two days on offense, a defensive day, and then a return to offense. The thinking was that it would take more time for Hunter to develop chemistry and timing with quarterback Trevor Lawrence than it would for him to learn how to fit into the framework of the secondary. But even on those days when Hunter practiced strictly on offense, during any break in action, such as a special teams segment, he would meet alone with members of the defensive coaching staff to go over assignments for cornerbacks with assistants serving as receivers during those jog-throughs."

By later in camp, however, he was working both sides of the ball during practice. It's a massive workload from a conditioning standpoint, but Hunter's ability to handle such workouts has always been lauded.

There was also the matter of an upper-body injury costing him two preseason games, valuable developmental time. But Hunter is too dynamic to take a backseat and was always going to factor into the team's plans immediately.

In Week 1, it seems more work may come on the offensive side of the ball. But Hunter has prepared as though he'll be playing both ways, so expect a number of defensive reps as well.