The Jaguars gave up an unprecedented trade haul to move up from No. 5 to No. 2 overall and take WR/CB Travis Hunter. But they also felt like he was an unprecedented player, which GM James Gladstone reiterated at camp.
“We were in a position to be close to somebody that we felt like changes the math,” Gladstone said via ESPN’s Dan Graziano. “Like, quite literally changes the math. You now have an additional player on one side of the ball on game day that nobody else has the luxury of tapping into. It was like, ‘Oh, wow, this could actually be an option, and we don’t foresee it ever being an option again.’ Unless this becomes more of a norm … we’re looking at an opportunity that will never really present itself again. So we might as well, if we want, try and swing it.”
So far, the Jaguars have invested a ton of time into making sure Hunter can shoulder the mental burden of playing two ways. But the physical burden seems like a piece of cake, as everyone in Jacksonville raves about Hunter’s conditioning.
“Logistically, it’s something we have to work through,” Jaguars HC Liam Coen said. “But he doesn’t get tired. He’s been training in the altitude for years. Our strength coach texted me in June and said, ‘Liam, this guy’s endurance is something I’ve never seen before.’ He just doesn’t really fatigue. He can run and run. And that’s why he struggles to keep weight on, because of that. So for him, he’s used to just doing both all the time. For us, we’ve got to make sure it’s a process.”
The Texans made headlines when they elected to trade OT Laremy Tunsil to the Commanders this offseason. Former Houston OL coach Chris Strausser defended Tunsil, saying their entire offensive line went through issues and never established chemistry.
“I don’t think our room was good last year,” Strausser said, via Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. “It was a combination of a lot of things — by no means Laremy being the issue (or) the main issue. It was a combination of so many things — a lot of guys trying to figure out an offense that, honestly, we were not that well educated in. We did have different personalities in the room. Our chemistry just was not right. But it was not at all Laremy’s fault that our chemistry was not right. It really wasn’t.”
Regarding a report that called the Texans’ offensive line “borderline toxic,” Tunsil shot back at the rumor, saying he felt their position group was great despite their struggles.
“It did make me feel a way, because our room wasn’t like that,” Tunsil said. “Did we play well? No. Did C.J. (Stroud) get sacked a lot? Yes. I see where the rumors could be made up and come from. But I feel like we had a great-ass room.”
As for Tunsil committing 12 false start penalties last season, Strausser blames that on the number of times they changed the snap count.
“He tried to get better at it,” Strausser said. “We definitely did have a different cadence than what he was used to. I think he would say it was not that offensive-tackle-friendly. It took him a while both years to get used to it. The guy’s a great guy. The guy’s a great player. I went in there. We were not very good for two years on the offensive line. I got fired, basically. I shouldn’t have really good feelings. But I do have good feelings about Laremy. I feel very lucky I coached Laremy.”
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