Travis Hunter’s Most Impactful Contribution Won’t Come From Physical Talent

Poetically, the reason Hunter thinks he can play every snap isn’t his body. It’s his brain.

“Just my mental. You gotta have the right mindset going into it. You gotta have the right knowledge. You gotta understand what you're doing. You're going out there, you gotta understand how to take care of your body, too.”

Doubters come from NFL fraternity

Taking care of his body is why Ryan Clark has joined countless current and former players who will believe Hunter can do it when they see Hunter do it. Until then, Clark sees Hunter as a player who should excel as a full-time starter on one side of the ball and focus on helping the Jaguars as a situational player on the other.

In other words, Clark doesn’t think Hunter to be two players in today’s NFL, the way James Gladstone described the rookie after drafting him -- a first-round cornerback and a first-round wide receiver.

“It's possible for one player to be one-and-a-half players,” Clark said Tuesday on Get Up. “I don't necessarily know if it's possible for him to be two players.”

Clark compared Hunter to Shohei Ohtani, who doesn’t pitch every game or play in the field every game. The Dodgers ask Ohtani to focus on hitting while he situationally complements their team in other areas.

“That's the same thing we got to do with Travis Hunter,” recommended Clark, who played safety over a 13-year career with Washington, Pittsburgh and the New York Giants and won a Super Bowl. “We got to figure out where he can go be the best every single snap, and then filter him in at the other position in important moments where he can make a difference.

“Now, whatever they decide is the best position to be his primary one, then that's on him. Even if you want to move him around based on game plan, where he plays most.”

Hunter has a quick answer for those doubters

Hunter would return the opening kickoff if head coach Liam Coen would give it to him. The rookie has heard Clark and all those who doubt his ability to play every snap. He hasn’t listened.

• "Yeah, it's a lot of people that do that, but they ain't never been in my shoes,” Hunter told Prisco. “They're not in my shoes. I'm the only person that can do what I'm doing, so I'm doing it.

• “Whatever coaches allow me to do, I'm gonna go do it.”

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