When journalist Ian Rapoport dropped his report on the Jacksonville Jaguars and their plans for the former Heisman winner Travis Hunter, it stirred things up. The idea was clear: Hunter would primarily line up at cornerback while still getting a handful of snaps as a part-time wide receiver. But the message didn’t exactly land smoothly with Hunter himself. Caught off guard, he fired back with a pointed question: “Now who told you this?”

That left Rapoport confused about whether Hunter was genuinely surprised or was hitting back. Talking about the same on, he stated:

“First of all, I’m going to go back to Travis Hunter straight, because I’d like a little more information. That’s what we do, right?” Rapoport said in a clip on X. “We’re in the information game. I’d like a little more information. Which part of this is a question? Is he saying, ‘Wow, I can’t believe you have all this information,’ which is what I assume this is because it really is a fantastic report, actually, one kind of started by our buddy Cam Wolfe, who first noted that Travis Hunter was going to play more corner this year than receiver, because I have my doubts about whether Hunter is questioning the veracity of that report.

“That one makes sense, and certainly it is something that the Jacksonville Jaguars have talked about. Hunter is being used more on defense than offense, kind of being more of a matchup-specific guy on offense, being more of a full-time corner, which I think it’s safe to say coming into the draft last year, most of the teams I spoke with thought he was going to end up as a corner rather than a receiver. That’s kind of where his special set of skills came from.”

Here’s the thing: Some aggregators misinterpreted Rapoport’s initial reporting and instead stated that Hunter would only play corner. So, there is a possibility that Hunter was questioning that.

That said, Rapoport stood by his reporting on Travis Hunter, pointing out that fellow insider Cameron Wolfe had already shared similar details earlier. Rapoport explained that the Jaguars have discussed using Hunter primarily on defense, while still mixing him in on offense based on matchups. He also mentioned that, coming into the draft, most teams saw Hunter as a natural cornerback because of how dominant he was on that side of the ball.

Looking at the Jaguars roster as of now, Hunter is likely to step into a starting role opposite cornerback Montaric Brown. On offense, the Jaguars already have weapons like wide receivers Brian Thomas Jr., Jakobi Meyers, and Parker Washington, so there isn’t as much pressure for Hunter to carry a big workload there compared to defense.

Rapoport also added that the team plans to ease Hunter back in as he recovers from an LCL injury.

“The Jaguars feel he is not going to be full speed this spring as he recovers from that torn LCL. Sounds like he is doing excellent in his rehab and should be fully good to go by training camp. I don’t think Travis Hunter should have any questions with anything that I just said.”

The Jaguars traded up to take Hunter with the second overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, with everyone expecting big things from him after winning the Heisman Trophy. But things took a turn when he suffered an LCL tear in practice, which cut his rookie season short after just seven games and raised some real questions about how sustainable his two-way role will be long term.

Now, as Hunter pushes back on the idea of being a full-time cornerback, reporter Adam Schefter has also weighed in with his own view on how this situation could play out.

Adam Schefter on Travis Hunter’s role

During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Adam Schefter shared his perspective on how the Jaguars plan to use Travis Hunter on both sides of the ball.

“I can tell you that the plans are to use him at wide receiver again, just the way they did last year, and to have a spike snap at the corner position,” Schefter said on Monday. “That’s why they gave up all the picks to go get Travis Hunter, to have the luxury to play him at both slots. And if you need him at a certain spot, you can insert him at that spot. They need him now at cornerback. They lost a good cornerback in free agency, so Travis Hunter is going to play a lot more cornerback, but he’s going to continue playing wide receiver, just like he did last year.”

Last season, Hunter really did a bit of everything. He logged 324 snaps on offense and 162 on defense, finishing with 28 receptions for 298 yards as a receiver. On the defensive side, he added 15 total tackles and three passes defended.

Schefter noted that roster changes are driving the Jaguars to use Hunter more at cornerback. After trading Tyson Campbell for Greg Newsome last season, the team has lost Newsome in free agency to the New York Giants this offseason, leaving a void in the secondary.

With those changes, the need at cornerback has become more noticeable. The Jaguars do have some flexibility moving forward. They hold 11 draft picks, including four on Day 2, and are expected to stay active as they look to fill remaining gaps. Whether they bring in another cornerback is still up in the air.

In the end, it feels like the Jaguars are trying to strike a balance. They want to take advantage of Hunter’s rare ability to impact both offense and defense, while also leaning on him where the team needs him most right now.