The Jacksonville Jaguars planned to let No. 2 overall pick Travis Hunter to play both of his positions – wide receiver and cornerback – on Saturday. Which position did he play more against the Pittsburgh Steelers?
USA TODAY Sports tracked Hunter’s snap counts on offense and defense throughout Saturday evening’s clash with Pittsburgh. Before the game, play-by-play commentator Brian Sexton said the Jaguars’ plan for Hunter included about 10 snaps on offense and 10 snaps on defense.
That turned out to be about exactly how it happened in the rookie’s pro debut.
Entering Jacksonville’s preseason opener, Hunter was listed as a starting wide receiver on the Jaguars’ unofficial depth chart. On defense, the team listed the rookie as a second-string cornerback.
Here’s how much Hunter played of each position on Saturday:
Travis Hunter snap counts: Jaguars preseason Week 1
Hunter played more offense than defense/defense than offense on Saturday against Pittsburgh.
Offense: 10 snaps
Defense: 8 snaps
On offense, Hunter caught both of his two targets for nine yards. He also had another catch and seven more receiving yards wiped out by an offensive penalty on tackle Walker Little.
Hunter had a mostly uneventful outing on defense according to his box score, but that was largely because of how well he was defending opposing receivers. He played tight coverage in passing situations in both man and zone looks.
His one mistake was a missed tackle coming up to defend against a run that bounced to the outside. Fellow rookie Kaleb Johnson, the Steelers’ running back, put out a stiff arm that shoved Hunter to the ground and kept him from making a play.
Thanks to the Jaguars’ solid offense keeping their first drive a lengthy one and their strong defense keeping the Steelers’ offensive drives short, Hunter ended up playing slightly fewer snaps on defense in his pro debut.