Former 2-Way Player Explains What Jaguars' Travis Hunter Needs

In 2018, Jason Cabinda signed with the Raiders as a non-drafted linebacker. He ended his six-year career in Detroit as a fullback. And after experiencing life as a two-way player, Cabinda thinks Travis Hunter can succeed playing on both sides of the ball because of his mental makeup, not his physical stature.

“At his size, the NFL level is quite tough on the body,” Cabinda said on Thursday’s edition of the Jim Rome Show. “To play both corner and wide receiver, guarding the best wide receiver and running go routes isn't easy. The reports say he's obsessed with football. He'll sit down, be in that playbook for 16 hours straight, and get eight hours of sleep.”

And that’s a good thing for Jacksonville, which paid a steep price to draft Hunter. That disciplined focus is what helped Cabina, who finished his career with 407 snaps on offense, 164 on defense and 821 on special teams. The fact that Hunter loves football is the secret to succeeding in a two-way career, Cabinda said.

“From a mental standpoint, he'll be okay,” Cabinda said. “There's definitely going to have to be a special catered plan for this athlete regarding the training room, coaches and strength training. There's going to have to be a very specially catered program to handle the workload, but I don't want to rule it out.”

Rule it out meaning whether Hunter can successfully navigate a two-way NFL career. Cabinda is uniquely positioned to comment on that prospect since he accomplished it, although he rarely played on both sides of the ball in the same season.

After five years as an NFL linebacker, the 6-1, 235-pound Cabinda transitioned to fullback in Ben Johnson’s offense before the 2023 season. But injuries conspired to end his career after just one year in that role.

Since Refrigerator Perry scored four touchdowns for the 1985 Bears, including a rushing score in the Super Bowl – with apologies to Deion Sanders -- two-way players ain’t been hard to find.

Charles Woodson, Adoree Jackson, J.J. Watt, Devin Hester, Mike Vrabel, Patrick Peterson and Troy Brown have dabbled on both offense and defense. Even Randy Moss broke up two passes and registered an interception as a deep safety.

But since Hall of Famer Don Hutson in retired in 1945, finding players who contributed as much on both sides of the ball as Hunter is preparing to play is incredibly hard to find. None of those modern players saw as many snaps as Hunter will play. How Jacksonville utilizes him from week to week is a fascinating sub-plot to the 2025 NFL season.

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