Jaguars' plans for Travis Hunter remain unclear after preseason debut

On a Sunday episode of ESPN's "SportsCenter," NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler called the workload a "healthy split." The question is, though, will his role mirror the one he had with the Colorado Buffaloes?

"[A scout told me], 'Look, he can do it in a setting like this where it's lower snap counts and he looks good, '" Fowler said (h/t Bleacher Report's Joseph Zucker). "It's clear that he moves a little differently than a lot of other special skill-set, special athletes.' But if you're talking, 70, 80 snaps over a game over 17 games, there's still a lot of skepticism."  

Hunter played 1,552 snaps (753 offensive, 776 defensive and 23 special teams) in 13 games last season, per Pro Football Focus. The 2024 Heisman winner excelled on both sides of the ball, catching 15 touchdown passes and intercepting four. 

Saturday's preseason game failed to prove if Hunter can handle that workload in the NFL. However, it gave Jacksonville an idea of how it can continue to improve its plans for the 22-year-old. 

"At least that was a good little blueprint for what you could do, how you could use him," Fowler said. "Put him in there for a couple of snaps on offense, bring him off, get him some water, bring him back in. It's going to be a process. I think the Jaguars are dealing with fluidity throughout. I think it's going to be changing as we go."

The Jaguars play the New Orleans Saints in their second preseason game on Aug. 17 at 1 p.m. ET. Whether Jacksonville ramps up his workload on both sides of the ball or if it uses him more at one position could clarify if the team will tweak his role.