Stardom Examples Exhibited by Travis Hunter Early on in Camp

When the Jacksonville Jaguars GM James Gladstone traded up and surrendered precious draft capital forTravis Hunter in April's NFL Selection Draft, it was deemed as either an extreme risk or extravagant reward.

Jaguars on SI Lead Beat Writer John Shipley has witnessed the Heisman Winner's showcase at the Miller Electric training Center in Jacksonville and highlighted Hunter's past couple of days on the Wednesday edition of the Jacksonville Jaguars Insider Podcast.

"I know we've talked about Travis Hunter ad nauseum. Everybody has," said Shipley. "He is arguably the most interesting story in the NFL, heading into the 2025 season. That just doesn't happen in Jacksonville. It hasn't happened since I've been covering this team, at the very least, and I'm not sure it's come close to happening. Travis Hunter is that kind of lightning rod of conversation. He is the guy who everybody is looking at to, see what he is doing, to see what position he is playing that day, etc."

In off-season programming and drills, Hunter has experienced the expected growing pains typical of any rookie. However, Hunter seemed to kick off the training wheels starting in Practice No. 4 on Sunday, and even more two days after.

Defense, Sunday, 7/27/2025

Travis Hunter on Defense — Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) hauls in a pass while running a drill during an NFL training camp fourth session at the Miller Electric Center, Sunday, July 27, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union] | Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"Sunday's practice at defensive back, and then Tuesday's practice a wide receiver, Travis Hunter looked settled. Those are, in my opinion, the two best practices he's had since joining the team in last April's draft. So that's, you know, rookie mini camp. Mini camp. OTAs, in the early first week or so of training camp. To me, he was absolutely phenomenal."

Offense, Tuesday, 7/29/2025

"On Tuesday, he made several impressive grabs," said Shipley. "One was a touchdown during red zone drills. Trevor Lawrence broke out of the pocket to avoid a sack, you have a complete scramble drill, and he found a soft spot in the left corner of the end zone, sat down, and made the catch. I want to say it's the first touchdown that he has scored in Jaguars practice in a team setting."

Timing with his quarterbacks

Travis Hunter and Trevor Lawrence — Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) talks with quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) during the 10th organized team activity at Miller Electric Center Wednesday, June 4, 2025 in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"It definitely showed, this is a guy who's starting to get his timing and how synced he is with the quarterback down. He's starting to be somebody who is making those off-schedule plays, as opposed to the plays that are just kind of designed to go to him. Yeah, he made other nice plays. He made a good catch over the middle, where he definitely got thumped by Andrew Wingard, and he kind of just bounced off of him."

Dangerous with the ball in his hands

"You can see how he's going to be dangerous on yards after the catch, I will say, with his size and with his frame. Do you want to see him going over the middle? You know all that often, I'd say maybe not. But I do think you know, the fact that he has shown physicality and toughness, and he has not shied away from doing it over the course of training camp so far, has been a really positive side for how he's going to transition at wide receiver."

One-on-Ones

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) catches a pass during an NFL training camp session at the Miller Electric Center, Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"I think he's the toughest Jaguars receiver to cover in one-on-ones, and that includes Brian Thomas, who I obviously don't need to explain how phenomenal that he is. He is a legitimate blue chip talent, a wide receiver, but just because of the settings that one-on-ones are a little unrealistic. You don't see too many reps in it that kind of resemble what you see during an NFL game. But to me, that's where you can kind of pinpoint and really look at what Travis Hunter is kind of bringing to the table."

"You know, tools-wise, as a wide receiver, the athlete that he is, the quickness he has, the acceleration that he has, the ability to decelerate. He's just running away from guys. Jourdan Lewis has been absolutely phenomenal in training camp, I'd argue that he's been one of their top three performers. And he beat Jourdan Lewis badly in a one-on-one. He beat me, you know, I believe he had three one-on-ones. He had three wins."

Shipley continued, "And he's somebody who I think you're starting to see that light kind of come on. You're starting to see that switch being flipped a little bit. And considering, of course, how immensely talented he is, and considering the role that they have in mind for him, I think practices like the one he had on Tuesday at receiver, and like the one he had Sunday at cornerback, those are just things that can make the Jaguars, in my opinion, feel a little vindicated. "

"Because, yeah, anybody who had a chance to draft Travis Hunter is going to try to draft Travis Hunter, but the Jaguars pulled the trigger on a very big and long-lasting in terms of impact trade to get Travis. I think you're starting to see him put together the practice performances that he is at two different positions, you're starting to see why he very well could be worth that cost."

Head Liam Coen and his staff have formulated a plan to get the most of Hunter on both sides of the line. But they don't have to coax out the immense talent that Travis Hunter is having no problem showcasing in Training Camp.

That's a mark of a true superstar.

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