Jacksonville Jaguars first-round pick Travis Hunter is days away from making his highly anticipated pro debut. Jaguars head coach Liam Coen already announced he’ll play on both sides of the ball, but quarterback Trevor Lawrence is hoping Hunter gets a heavier workload on offense.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero asked Lawrence Thursday about whether the quarterback is petitioning for Hunter to get more time at wide receiver than cornerback. Lawrence began his answer diplomatically, praising Hunter’s talent and saying it’s hard to keep him off the field.
That said…
‘Selfishly, yeah, I definitely want him on offense more,’ Lawrence said. ‘I told him, ‘Do you wanna come catch touchdowns, or do you want to maybe break up a pass or two a game? That’s the decision you’ve gotta make.’
The quarterback went on to continue praising Hunter, saying that he’s certain the two-way phenom will be making plays regardless of whether he’s on offense or defense.
‘Of course, as a quarterback, I hope he plays more offense. Wherever he plays to make our team better – because he will make us better – is what’s gonna happen. So (I’m) all for whatever that is,’ Lawrence said.
Entering Saturday’s preseason opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Hunter was listed as a starting wide receiver on Jacksonville’s first unofficial depth chart. On defense, Hunter is listed as a second-string cornerback.
In his last season at Colorado last year, Hunter had 96 receptions, tallying 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns as a receiver. As a cornerback, he recorded 36 tackles, 11 pass defenses, four interceptions and a game-sealing forced fumble in an overtime win against Baylor.
