Two-way superstar Travis Hunter was the most fascinating player in the 2025 NFL Draft class, but now may be the most important player on the Jacksonville Jaguars defense, as his second NFL season looms.

As Hunter enters Year 2 following a rookie campaign cut short by injury, Jacksonville is coming to a crucial realization; to truly unlock a generational talent in today's NFL, Hunter doesn't need more snaps. He needs a focus point.

After trading four draft picks, including a pair of first-round choices, to the Cleveland Browns to select Hunter No. 2 overall last spring, the Jaguars may be on the cusp of calling an audible this fall to unlock his sky-high potential.

“I think Travis Hunter will find his footing this year,” a rival General Manager tells Between The Hashmarks, on the condition of anonymity to speak freely about another team. “As a shutdown cornerback.”

Jacksonville leaned hard into Hunter’s tantalizing and off-the-charts versatility last season, to mixed results.

Hunter, 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, slashed his way to 28 catches for 298 yards in a field-stretching receiver role, while also posting 15 total tackles with three pass breakups as a cornerback, before a torn LCL in his knee ended his rookie campaign after just seven games.

There’s an expectation inside the league that when the 2026 season kicks off, the Jaguars will, at the very least, dial back their 60-minute experiment with their insanely athletically gifted weapon.

"They tried to do too much with him last year,” the GM we spoke to surmised. “I heard they focused on defensive back, and a few special plays for him on offense, like Deion Sanders in his prime.”

Sanders is an easy comparison to make for Hunter, for obvious reasons.

Coach Prime was, of course, Hunter’s college coach at the University of Colorado, and is one of the most legendary two-sport players in the history of the sport.

There is, however, some noteworthy and arguably necessary context to Sanders’ contributions as a receiver, especially given that snap counts were not a thing before the data-obsessed era and analytics revolution.

While Sanders accounted for 784 receiving yards and caught three touchdowns, he only caught 60 passes in 188 career games.

Chuck “Concrete Charlie” Bednarik, Sanders was not.

So, the Jaguars limiting Hunter’s exposure when it comes to snaps on offense shouldn’t come as a shock, given the toll that playing both ways exacts on a player.

"I heard he's working exclusively at cornerback this summer,” the GM says. “But a few special situations to get the ball in his hands on offense. He was spread a little thin last year, as a Jack of All Trades, but Master of None type situation."

The blueprint is clear, and an obvious one, after Hunter ran away with the 2024 Heisman Trophy while playing two ways for Sanders at Colorado.

Jaguars head coach Liam Coen could essentially have 10-15 plays per game, noted on the side of his play-sheet for Hunter, saved for situations where his track speed (he was recently clocked running 22.5 miles per hour during a summer workout) could tilt the field in Jacksonville’s direction or when the offense desperately needs a spark.

It’s the science of dialing in just how many offensive snaps, though, just how many routes, just how many targets to throw Hunter’s way on offense without limiting his ability to potentially travel with and thrive against the opponent’s top receiver defensively.

With the opener against Cleveland screaming closer, Coen isn’t shying away from using Hunter both ways.

"Absolutely. We'll definitely have a package on offense to be able to get him some opportunities," Coen said during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show. "There's been a steady increase in his defensive work just by nature of where we're at on defense and continuing to try to create consistency ... There's been a lot of detail and time-on-task this offseason. He'll absolutely have a plan on offense."

Hunter is the kind of unicorn with the traits capable of impacting the outcome of the game on either side of the ball.

His best skills really are so complementary to making game-altering catches, or preventing them from happening on defense.

Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile believes Hunter is a rare breed.

"The thing about Travis, you can see even in some of these practices, he can go up and tear the ball out of the air," Campanile told reporters this summer. "He goes after the ball like a receiver, so that's what's exciting about him. And you saw a little bit of that in practice the other day. I thought he made a heck of a play, honestly, coming out of nowhere and tearing the ball out of the sky."

Therein may be the driving force behind the Jaguars moving to primarily move Hunter to cornerback, despite his steadfast desire to be a two-way player, and Coen’s insistence that there will be packages of offensive plays built into the playbook for him.

Last season, the Jaguars intercepted 22 passes. But, linebacker Devin Lloyd and his team-high five will be lining up in the heart of the Carolina Panthers’ defense, after departing as a free agent.

If Jacksonville hopes to come close to replicating its success finishing second in interceptions in 2025, or more importantly, create more takeaways to ease the pressure on quarterback Trevor Lawrence or needing to overwork Hunter as a receiver, his ball-hawk instincts and tendencies are genuinely a weapon.

Legendary former Jaguars wide receiver Jimmy Smith knows a thing or two about what makes an elite pass catcher, and he’s already seeing some of those traits translate into how Hunter approaches every snap he drops into coverage on as a cornerback.

“Keeping his stance down at the line of scrimmage,” Smith tells Between The Hashmarks. “Coming off the ball hard, and keeping his shoulders square at the top of the routes.”

That receiver DNA combined with his experience locking down opposing pass catchers allows Hunter to anticipate release angles and route stems before the ball ever leaves the quarterback’s hand.

That’s a rare luxury for a cornerback, and a necessary one, given the path Jacksonville’s defense will have to navigate if a return to the postseason is in the cards.

Playing in a division where the Jaguars will need to contend with Colts receiver Alec Pierce’s electrifying speed, Texans standout Nico Collins’ well-rounded skill set, and a potentially prolific rookie in Carnell Tate twice each season, countering with Hunter’s explosive speed is the kind of asset the Jaguars will look to build the defense around.

The Jaguars don't need Hunter to play 100 snaps a game to justify their draft-day splash.

Jacksonville just needs him to lock down one side of the field on defense, pick his spots on offense, and prove that the ultimate weapon is the one deployed with surgical precision.

His college coach won two Super Bowls, and now wears a Gold Jacket thanks to a similar blueprint.

Jacksonville could be about to launch Hunter by finally dialing him in.