DeAngelo Hall sees Travis Hunter as more than a gadget name for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He said Hunter has the skills to play cornerback at an elite level and can be a player who creates takeaways, a view that matters now as Jacksonville prepares to bring him back into the mix for training camp.
That is why Hunter is drawing attention again. The Jaguars traded up to take him second overall in the 2025 NFL Draft after he won the Heisman Trophy at Colorado, and the expectation around him has shifted from what he can do in the abstract to how Jacksonville will actually use him. Hall said he is excited to watch Hunter focus on cornerback, with the possibility that receiver work will take a back seat.
Hall’s praise was specific. He said coaches at Colorado told him Hunter had some of the best ball skills they had ever seen, and Hall said that showed up when Hunter played receiver and even at times when he lined up on defense. That kind of hands brings a different kind of pressure on an offense. Quarterbacks do not always fear a throw unless they think the defender on the other side can take the ball away, and Hall said Hunter gives Jacksonville that kind of fear factor at cornerback.
That assessment lands alongside a season that never quite got rolling. Hunter started slowly as a rookie, then began to find his groove before suffering a season-ending injury. Jacksonville still is not giving up on the two-way idea, but the plan around him appears to be narrowing. Hunter will play cornerback full-time, and he may not play receiver nearly as much as he once did.
What remains unresolved is how much of the old Hunter survives inside that plan. He logged just 36 percent of the team's snaps on offense before the injury cut his season short, which leaves Jacksonville with a choice when he is back for training camp: keep chasing the two-way promise, or lean into the defender Hall believes can change games on the back end. Hall sounded ready for the latter, and for Hunter, that next stretch may say more about his future than any draft-night billing ever could.
