Former No. 2 Overall Selection Speaks Out on Travis Hunter

Seventeen years before the Jaguars traded up to draft Travis Hunter, Chris Long also was drafted No. 2 overall. Count Long among those who believe Hunter was worth the cost.

“Some guys are just like, ‘Okay, that's a Hall of Famer right there.’ And if he's not, I'll be shocked,” Long said about Hunter on Monday’s edition of the Green Light podcast. “And I don't throw that around. I don't say that about too many people coming in the NFL draft.

“That guy's triple-jointed. Like, you can see, he's just different. And his spirit, the way he carries himself, I love the kid. Like, so much respect for him. So, I think he's going to be great.”

Long should know. His father, Howie, is enshrined in Canton. And everyone knows that being great means managing game reps and strategically balancing Hunter’s cardio and ability to withstand NFL hits. Long doesn’t see playing 120 snaps per game as realistic.

“That to me, it's a non-starter to me, having gone through it,” said Long, who won two Super Bowls over his 11-year NFL career. “And back in the day, we played 85 snaps a game. Yeah, and that was a crazy amount. You can't last that way.”

Reasonably, the conservative strategy to get Hunter to last is to manage his reps the way baseball manages pitchers. And if Liam Coen’s gameplan calls for Hunter on every snap of a 14-play drive, as draft analyst Field Yates said, sending him back out on defense without a breather is probably a bad idea. In that case, maybe he’s the nickel corner in passing situations.

And as for the price Jacksonville paid to move up, including the Jaguars’ 2026 first-rounder, Long is in James Gladstone’s camp. Future Hall of Famers are worth future first-round picks, especially those players given top grades by scouts on both sides of the ball.

“I hate even using the word, because I don't like using the word bust,” Long said. “It kind of talks bad about the kid, but if you're worried about busting, verb, like you totally miss on the pick, you cut the chances of that happening in half, because you have multiple options.

“If it turns out that the biggest-kept secret in the world is he's not going to be a good pro corner, well, then you just kind of quietly pivot. And I'm pretty sure he can get you 800 yards a year. So, I think this is a really safe play for a young GM … In a draft where there's not a lot of game-changers, evidently, I like going up and getting him.”

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