The plan for Travis Hunter in 2026 was supposed to be simple on paper: full-time cornerback, part-time receiver, with the lion's share of his snaps coming on defense. That's the story the Jaguars have been telling all offseason. But three days into training camp, the actual snap counts are telling a slightly different story, and it's one worth watching closely.
Hunter, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 draft and reigning Heisman winner, put together a rookie season that flashed exactly why Jacksonville traded up and paid him like a foundational piece. Before a season-ending knee injury, he was playing 67% of the offensive snaps through 7 games as a true two-way weapon. That injury is the backdrop for everything happening in camp right now — how much does a guy who just tore something up get pushed as a receiver again, and how fast?
The tracker tells the story cleanly: 4 offensive snaps on Day 1, 4 more on Day 2, then a jump to 7 on Day 3, all while the defensive rep count held steady at 8. That's not a dramatic swing, but it's a real one — a receiver package usage creeping upward practice by practice instead of holding flat, which is exactly the kind of trend beat reporters flag early because it tends to keep going.
And it lines up with what Hunter himself is saying about his body. He told reporters he's put on 10 pounds of muscle this offseason and, somehow, feels lighter and faster for it — running 21 to 22.5 mph in camp with a stated goal of hitting 23, a number that would put him in Tyreek Hill's speed neighborhood.
That's a wild claim for a guy playing arguably the most physically demanding dual role in football, but it fits the picture the Jaguars have painted since April 2025, when they gave up a haul of picks to move up and grab him, then made him the first non-quarterback ever to get his entire signing bonus paid up front on a 4-year, $46.65 million deal. This was never going to be a normal player usage plan, and Jacksonville has treated it that way from day one.
None of this means Hunter is suddenly a receiver-first player again — 8 defensive snaps to 4-7 offensive snaps is still a cornerback's workload with a spice package mixed in, and the team has been clear he starts on defense. But a guy adding functional mass, chasing elite speed numbers, and seeing his offensive rep share tick up every single day of camp is a trend worth tracking as Jacksonville figures out exactly how much they can lean on the most unique player in the league without breaking him again.