Jacksonville Jaguars first-round pick Travis Hunter saw action on offense and defense in his preseason debut, as promised by his head coach Liam Coen earlier in the week.
It was a small sample size that added up to 18 total snaps for Hunter in the Jaguars' preseason-opening 31-25 loss Saturday against the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers.
Hunter started at wide receiver for the Jags on the game's opening possession, playing 10 of the drive's 11 snaps and recording two catches for 9 yards. The Colorado product didn't return to the field on defense for the ensuing drive, but did debut at cornerback on the Steelers' second offensive drive. He recorded five snaps with zero statistics, aside from a missed tackle, and returned later for a few more plays.
"I think he made a couple good catches on some option routes," Coen said after the game. "He missed the one tackle defensively that I noticed, like that was the only thing that I kind of noticed. In terms of his about his overall play, I'll have to watch the tape on how he operated defensively a little bit more, but I thought offensively he made the right decisions on those option routes. He made a good catch and almost broke out of that one."
The two-way unicorn didn't get a whole lot of run, leaving with the first-team offense after one drive and getting just eight defensive snaps, but that really shouldn't be surprising.
While fans were anticipating Hunter's preseason debut, Coen and Co. need to worry about the regular season and keeping the 2025 NFL Draft's No. 2 overall pick fresh.
There wasn't much to take away, but on a decent opening drive for the Jaguars in which quarterback Trevor Lawrence marched his team 44 yards for a field goal, he targeted Hunter thrice. One catch -- a screen in which Hunter juked and spun for 7 yards -- was negated by a penalty. Hunter's quickness and slipperiness is evident, though.
Hunter's much-ballyhooed preseason debut came just a day after his former Buffaloes teammate, Shedeur Sanders, took centerstage.
Sanders impressed and played into the second half of the Cleveland Browns' win over the Carolina Panthers.
Hunter didn't get as many opportunities to shine, but he did nothing to diminish the anticipation of an unprecedented rookie season ahead.
