Travis Hunter Receives 'Rare' Praise From Jacksonville Jaguars General Manager

"He's a rare person. He's a rare player," Gladstone said. "But he’s also a reminder that the boundaries of the game of football were built to be challenged.”

Gladstone's deification of Hunter is not without backing, as Hunter pushed the boundaries of college football with his ability at both wide receiver and cornerback. He played the most snaps of football in recorded history last season with the Buffaloes, warping what many thought was possible in terms of endurance and consistency.

Hunter won top honors at both of the positions he played, along with the illustrious Heisman Trophy, becoming what many believed to be the best all-around player in the country and the greatest skill position player in recent memory. Hunter's No. 2 draft selection his the highest ever for a cornerback and the first time a receiver has been drafted in the top two since Calvin Johnson in 2007.

"The decision to select him was actually a statement," Gladstone said of Hunter. "A statement for how we plan to move who we are, and we want him to be nothing more than him. Because when he is, he elevates the space around him."

The gusts of Hunter's rarified air now blow to Jacksonville, where the two-way star could capitalize on its desperate situation and put together a Hall of Fame career.

He'll catch passes from one of the league's most fascinating young quarterbacks in Trevor Lawrence, join wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. to form one of the league's most talented perimeter tandems and aim to rejuvenate a feeble secondary that gave up the most passing to its opposition in 2024.

Unlike many rookies, Hunter won't have to tread water to earn a starting role. He'll be under a microscope, but in a situation that believes in him as much as coach Deion Sanders did in Boulder. Jaguars coach Liam Coen stated that they plan to utilize him similarly to how he was used at Colorado.

Would Hunter truly play every snap of an NFL season if he's able to do so? What was once an impossibility now has legitimate backing from the people calling the shots on his career. Hunter playing full-time at both receiver and corner would only add to the novelty of who he is, thereby creating a legacy without precedent in the history of modern football.

Prefacing his praise, Gladstone expressed otherworldly intuition that Hunter's presence on his franchise means far more than the X's and O's.

"As we sit here, Travis Hunter is a Jacksonville Jaguar," Gladstone said. "What comes to mind for me, thinking about the sport of football, and the power of the game itself, its capacity to ignite belief. Belief in ourselves, belief in others, belief in achieving what many may deem impossible. Travis Hunter, he embodies belief."