Travis Hunter logged 20 defensive snaps in a single practice this week, the most he's played on that side of the ball in any camp session so far, and it's the clearest sign yet that the Jaguars mean it when they say cornerback comes first in 2026. Through camp, Hunter has run 178 total snaps: 116 on defense, 61 on offense, and one on special teams. That's not a rookie-year split. It's a reversal of one.
Last season Hunter played roughly two-thirds of his snaps at receiver, 324 of 489, before an LCL injury ended his year in October. He caught 28 passes on 45 targets for 298 yards and a touchdown across seven games, with his best outing an 8-catch, 101-yard, first-career-touchdown game against the Rams. On defense he was targeted 18 times, allowed nine catches, broke up three passes and made 15 tackles. Then came the injured reserve stint and season-ending surgery, and a No. 2 overall pick spent most of his second training camp rehabbing instead of stacking reps.
Now healthy, Hunter is fully participating, and Jaguars GM James Gladstone has been blunt about the direction: expect the corner percentage to climb. Head coach Liam Coen backed that up, explaining that splitting reps hurts development on either side: 'When he's not in on defense and he's coming onto offense every time, we're losing out on coaching.' Defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile has raved about Hunter's 'elite ball skills' after a leaping interception in team drills, and he's picked off two passes in 11-on-11 work this camp. Veteran corner Jourdan Lewis summed up the workload simply: 'You've got camp two times, man.'
The offense hasn't disappeared, though. Coen has suggested Hunter's receiver role 'could be bigger than some might expect,' and the current plan has him functioning as a 3A/3B option alongside Brian Thomas Jr. in three-receiver sets, alternating snaps rather than splitting the field. Hunter also isn't getting picked on much in coverage, partly because he's locking receivers down, which cuts both ways for fantasy: fewer defensive stats to hang a jersey number on, but also proof the team trusts him enough to expand the corner workload without it costing him offensive snaps entirely.
For fantasy purposes, this is exactly the muddled outlook the market has been pricing in. Hunter's consensus ADP sits around pick 192, roughly the back of the sixth round in a 12-team league, with platform variance stretching from as high as pick 150 to as low as 215 depending on where you draft. That's a discount for a former No. 2 overall pick with legitimate WR1 traits, and it exists because Jacksonville is stacked at receiver with Jakobi Meyers and Brian Thomas Jr. already entrenched, plus Parker Washington in the mix. Hunter isn't walking into target volume; he has to earn it inside a rotation, on a share of snaps the team is actively steering toward defense.
That makes him a classic late-round dart throw rather than a set-and-forget flex play. In redraft leagues, he's a bench stash you check on weekly, someone who could spike for a Meyers/BTJ-adjacent 6-catch, 80-yard week if the Jaguars lean into 11 personnel, but who's just as likely to log 3 targets and frustrate anyone starting him with confidence. Dynasty managers should be more patient. A healthy, explosive athlete with his draft pedigree doesn't lose long-term value because a coaching staff wants more corner reps in August; if anything, proving he can handle both jobs without his offensive role collapsing is exactly the outcome that protects his ceiling for 2027 and beyond.
Before his injury wiped out most of last season, sportsbooks had Hunter as high as third-favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year at +750, a nod to how much juice the offensive projection still carries when he's on the field. The betting market clearly hasn't forgotten what he looked like against the Rams. Fantasy drafters shouldn't either, but they also shouldn't pretend the corner snaps are a footnote. They're the headline of this camp, and they're the reason Hunter's fantasy price sits where it does.
The next thing to watch is whether that offensive snap share holds once the games count. If Jacksonville keeps Hunter in the 30-35% offensive-snap range through the regular season while pushing his corner reps up, he's a boom/bust WR4 or bench piece, useful in deeper or best-ball formats but risky as a weekly starter. If Coen's promise of a bigger-than-expected receiver role actually shows up once Trevor Lawrence is throwing for real, Hunter's current ADP looks like one of the last true bargains left on the board.