Jaguars' Anthony Campanile Talks Delicate Balance With Travis Hunter

For much of the offseason and dating back to the pre-draft process, the discussion around Travis Hunter's usage in the NFL has been among the top storylines for the start of Jacksonville Jaguars training camp.

The 2025 No. 2 overall selection is a unique talent with Olympic-level stamina and athleticism, capable of playing wide receiver and cornerback at a fairly high level. Head coach Liam Coen and defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile have been tasked with managing a delicate balance in a situation that is rare at the professional level.

These situations can also be stressful for any coach. For Campanile, he doesn't feel the stress of giving his standout rookie defender, telling the Jaguars' local media on Thursday that Coen has done an 'unbelievable job' with managing Hunter's extra work.

“No, I would say Liam's done an unbelievable job with that. He is down to the second with all that," the first-year defensive coordinator said.

Campanile said it was impressive to see his head coach communicating with him and his defensive staff about when, where, and what Hunter would be doing during practice. He also pointed out that his staff, such as secondary coach Ron Milus, defensive backs coach Anthony Perkins, and assistant DBs coach Drew Lascari have all done well to plan meetings with Hunter.

"It's honestly impressive to watch because he does a great job of communicating with us," Campanile said. "When he's going to be with us, when he's going to be meeting with us, when we're going to have time on the field. And our coaches, Coach Milus, Coach Perkins, those guys have done a great job, and Coach Lascari, in the meetings.

"They've done a great job planning everything out with his meeting time and then having the stuff ready to go on the field, so we can do feet-meets and walk and talks with him in between if he's available.”

This may be a sign of things to come, especially with the Jaguars' opener just over a month away. Hunter is expected to start at wide receiver in Coen's offense while having reps sprinkled in on defense. However, both head coach and defensive coordinator could realize that their first-round pick could do exactly what he did at the collegiate level, and that is play on both sides of the ball for a majority of a game.

For the latest on the Jaguars defense and Travis Hunter, ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @JaguarsOnSI and @_John_Shipley.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.