JACKSONVILLE – Let’s get to it …

The Jaguars on Friday selected Tulane safety Caleb Ransaw No. 88 overall and West Virginia offensive lineman Wyatt Milum No. 89 overall – but trades indeed ruled the day for the Jaguars on Day 2 of the 2025 NFL Draft, and the night was overall was a weird one. The Jaguars entered Friday night with no second-round selection after trading up with the Cleveland Browns from No. 5 overall Thursday to select Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter No. 2 — and they held Selections Nos. 70 and 88 in Round 3. They then made two trades. The first: Nos. 70 and 182 (Round 4) in the ’25 draft and a 2026 sixth-round selection to the Detroit Lions for No.102 (Round 3) in ’25, a “compensation” third-round selection in ’26 and a “regular” ’26 third-round selection. The second: Nos. 102 (Round 3) and 142 (Round 4) in ’25 to the Houston Texans for Nos. 89 and 236 in ’25. That’s a mouthful and it had the overall effect of a whole lot of waiting followed by a late-night flurry. Trade machine? Weird night? Damned right.

John, I love it. But seriously … how can this two-way work? One coordinator tapes his meeting and speaks to the camera for Travis’ part? There is only so much training time.

The Jaguars selected Hunter No. 2 overall Thursday night – and while the selection was fun and franchise-shaping, your question indeed is THE major question regarding the Travis Hunter Experience. The Jaguars selected him with the idea that he can transform the sport – and central to that idea is him being the first NFL player in six and a half decades to regularly play offense and defense at a high level. Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen and General Manager James Gladstone since selecting Hunter have both said there will be a plan for how to use Hunter – and to allow him to flourish at each position. This will involve all levels of the organization and it will be an organizational priority. Hunter has the makings of a historic, precedent-setting player. That’s how the Jaguars see him. Whether other teams and players follow that precedent figures to depend a lot on the Jaguars’ and Hunters’ ability to navigate this issue.

Charles from Savannah, GA

I’m pleased with the Travis Hunter pick. However, it cost the Jaguars a lot! Could he have been available at No. 5? It is hard to say.

It’s not hard to say at all. Hunter wouldn’t have been available at No 5.

Our first pick was awesome, but I don’t understand why they kept moving back farther and farther down.

The Jaguars traded out of the No. 70 selection Friday because they felt comfortable that the players(s) they liked there would be available at No. 88. Remember, too: Those trades brought two third-round selections in 2026. That will be significant this time next year.

Jarrian Jones played great in the slot as a rookie last season, so we sign a slot corner in free agency and then we take a corner/wide receiver in Round One after trading away a lot of capital. Then we decide we shouldn’t take someone at Pick 70, so we trade that away. Then we trade up for another slot corner. I don’t understand the plan at all. We needed a safety badly and we skipped them all. How many slot corners are we going to play at one time? Also after preaching we need to build both lines, we don’t even touch the defensive line through the first two days. Am I wrong here or is the plan not what they preached it would be?

The Jaguars have new decision-makers. How past regimes saw players does not necessarily mean new regimes seeing those players the same way. Ransaw will play safety.

Hi, John. Who will be the best offensive lineman available in the fifth or sixth round? I don’t know, but he has a great chance of becoming a Jaguar. Ho, hum.

My Scooby Sense – and not my Scobee sense – tells me you’re upset that the Jaguars didn’t select an offensive lineman early in the first round Thursday. The Jaguars addressed this Friday. I expect them to do so again Saturday. The draft does not end on Day One.

He can play two positions? Great. He gets injured, we have two holes.

The little lights are not twinkling.

If Travis Hunter doesn’t go down as one of the best players in Jaguars history, then this will go down as yet another terrible decision by a failure of a franchise.

The Jaguars traded a first-round selection in the 2026 NFL Draft and a second-round selection in the 2025 NFL Draft for Hunter. It’s sort of self-evident that it will go down as a terrible decision if he’s not one of the best players in franchise history.

The Jags swinging for the fences in the draft is a new development. It’s exciting; I hope it pays off.

Something doesn’t smell right in Gilbert.

Would you start Travis Hunter primarily on offense or defense?

The Jaguars will start Hunter primarily on offense, but you get the idea listening to them he will be working very extensively very quickly on defense. I don’t expect it to be long before he’s playing defense and offense a lot.

“We needed a starter on O and D in Round one and two, and we got both!” – 27 year old GM, probably.

Rookie mistake. It’s rare for a non-quarterback player to be worth more than three good starters. I will be fanning like crazy that GM Gladstone is right. If not, it’s 2027 until he can redeem himself.

Everything about the Hunter selection is rare and unique. He must be a rare and special player for it to have been a good trade, and a good selection. This is a thread that runs through the entire selection and that will define Hunter’s career.

I Have Not Stopped Smiling Today ~ What a great day to be a Jaguar Fan! Soak it in as we have been through too many tough years, but this move made it very clear that this young group running our team is willing to take chances and be bold and boy do we need this!

One fer Hunter, it would seem.

Nikki from East Hampton, CT

O, time and again we are fed the [most accurate] philosophy of long-term success primarily being derived from drafting and developing. How can we accomplish that if we are giving up so much premium equity? In lieu of how special Hunter could be, are we shooting ourselves in the foot by not having multiple high round picks this year and next to have an increased probability to land multiple gems?

Polarizing decision to trade for/draft Hunter. Talent is there of course but he is short/thin in stature about to play against men. With much higher levels of physicality. I really hope Liam can manage this high-maintenance personality in the ecosystem. College is not pro, so how is this coaching group going to manage this personality when he demands to play both ways, which clearly won’t be sustainable at the next level? Not sure this is the best locker room fit like Gladstone has preached from the get-go … as a Jags fan for 25 years, I hope I’m wrong but he was coached by Showtime so….

I’m perhaps with you on the concerns about Hunter being a bit slight for the NFL. At the very least, that concern is fair and understandable. So is skepticism about him playing both ways. But I don’t know that your concerns about Hunter being “high maintenance” are valid. Remember: While Hunter played for Head Coach Deion Sanders at Colorado, there is no indication that that means he is “high maintenance” – or that his personality is an issue in the locker room. His reputation is that he is humble and really cares about two things: Football and fishing. He absolutely can get plenty of both in his new town.

I’ve read the O-Zone for years. You have always stressed the importance of rookies starting out learning only one position. Do you think it would be better if Travis Hunter started out only playing one side of the ball?

Ideally, yes. I don’t know if the Jaguars have that luxury with Hunter after trading up three selections and selecting him at No. 2. The plan is for Hunter to start at receiver and practice with/learn the defense in the offseason. Hunter is special. That’s why the Jaguars selected him. We’ll see if he’s special enough to accelerate the process.