Recent No. 2 overall NFL Draft pick Travis Hunter joined the Jacksonville Jaguars last month with sky-high expectations, but the former Colorado Buffaloes star has so far been worth the investment and then some.
Along with receiving praise from teammates and coach Liam Coen throughout Jacksonville's rookie minicamp and initial OTAs (organized team activities), Hunter has made a strong first impression on the greatest player in Jaguars history. Pro Football Hall of Famer and Jaguars executive vice president of football operations Tony Boselli recently praised the cornerback/wide receiver during an episode of his EVPodcast.
Boselli, who graduated from Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado, said Hunter's physical gifts aren't the only thing that stands out about the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner.
"He is a supreme athlete with amazing body control," Boselli said. "But I think my favorite thing that I've seen, and we believed this when drafted him, is the type of human being he is, the competitive nature, the desire to be great as an individual, the good teammate. The is the second overall pick, a guy who won the Heisman, is gonna play both ways, and he doesn't separate himself out from the rest of the rookies or the rest of his draft class. Doing it right is really important to him."
Boselli added that Hunter's love for football and his constant positive attitude have also stood out.
"That combined with the natural joy he brings because of his personality, (Hunter has been) everything I expected and more," Boselli said. "I'm really looking forward to when we actually start playing real football out there to see what he can do."
Hunter's first taste of "real" NFL action will come during the Jaguars' first preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Aug. 9. After facing the New Orleans Saints and Miami Dolphine to close the preseason slate, Hunter's regular season debut is set for Sept. 7 against the Carolina Panthers, who drafted fellow former Colorado wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr.
Boselli also spoke on the Jaguars' decision to trade up with the Cleveland Browns for the No. 2 overall pick, which they used to draft Hunter. General manager James Gladstone, of course, played a big role in Jacksonville's decision to move up from its initial pick at No. 5.
"It was a big strategic decision, and I give James a ton of credit for his leadership through the entire process and how he envisioned it and how he put it together," Boselli said. "It's a collaboration between James, Liam and I, and we go to (owner) Shad (Khan) with decisions like that. But it was James who led it. It was James who put the deal together... We had conviction that Travis was an individual we wanted to be a Jacksonville Jaguar. We knew it was gonna be expensive, it was gonna cost us something."
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