JACKSONVILLE – This was about aligned vision and setting a tone.
A bold and phenomenally exciting tone.
The Jaguars on Thursday night selected University of Colorado wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter No. 2 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft – an aggressive, unexpected move that not only shaped this draft but that could define the organization moving forward.
"An exciting moment in time for the Jacksonville Jaguars," General Manager James Gladstone called it, adding: "We mentioned the idea that a trademark of this leadership group is that when there's an opportunity to be bold, we're not going to flinch.
"This is a reflection of that. This is a certainly a statement for how we plan to move, how we plan to operate."
The Jaguars traded up from No. 5 to select Hunter, the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner and a player Head Coach Liam Coen called "a competitor."
"Ultimately, you're looking for players, can they win on their own, and can they impact our offense in that way?" Coen said. "Yes, he does."
Hunter entering the draft was ranked by many analysts as the draft's No. 1 prospect overall – and its No. 1 prospect at both receiver and cornerback.
"He is somebody who is deserving of a first-round draft pick as a wide receiver, and he is worthy of a first-round draft pick as a corner," Gladstone said. "We're excited about just getting him in the boat."
Coen said Hunter will begin his Jaguars career primarily on offense while learning the defensive system and practicing on defense throughout this offseason.
"We have to be fluid throughout this whole process," Coen said. "We've had multiple conversations at length with athletic training, equipment, sports science, coaching – everybody involved – about this process and what it's going to look like moving forward.
"We have a plan in place, and that's really where we'll start."
Gladstone said the move not only reflected the boldness he, Coen and Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tony Boselli have emphasized since taking over as the franchise's football decision-makers earlier this offseason, it also stayed true to his philosophy of bringing "intangibly rich" players into the franchise's "ecosystem."
"Travis, in fact, as a player is rare," Gladstone said. "As a person, he's also rare. When we say that the idea of inviting people into our ecosystem, who by being nothing more than who they are, elevate the space … that's the epitome of what Travis is. We're not going to ask him to be any more than him because by doing so, he elevates not only this football team, not only this city, but the sport itself."
Gladstone added, "There are players who have the capacity to alter a game. There are players who have the capacity to alter the trajectory of a team. There are very few players who have the capacity to alter the trajectory of the sport. Travis, while he has a lot to still earn, in our eyes has the potential to do just that."
Coen also detailed the unique skills that allowed Hunter in 2024 to become the first player to win both Chuck Bednarik Award for college football's best defensive player and the Fred Biletnikoff Award for college football's best wide receiver.
"On both sides of the ball, he impacts the game," Coen said. "He has a great feel for the game itself. When he's on the offensive side of the ball, finding zones in the defense. He's got really good ball skills. He can do something with it after the catch.
"Then on the defensive side of the ball, he finds it, and that's ultimately what we're trying to do here is continue to find people that can help us get our hands on the ball on the defensive side and go impact the game in that way."
The Jaguars in addition to the No. 5 selection traded to the Browns No. 36 (Round 2) and No. 126 (Round 4) selections in '25 – and their first-round selection in the 2026 NFL Draft. The Jaguars received the Nos. 104 (Round 4) and 200 (Round 6) selections in '25.
Gladstone said he and Browns General Manager Andrew Berry had been "working through [the trade] for the better part of two weeks."
"It certainly included some back and forth," Gladstone said, "but along the way there was a pretty good pulse for what the end was going to look like and what executing that once they were on the clock would shape out to be.
"When things began to sort of grow and accelerate over the course of those conversations, you become more firm in your stance and your pursuit. We're certainly happy with the way that it unfolded."
Added Gladstone, "Being able to sit here tonight with Travis Hunter as the Jacksonville Jaguar is a vision that Liam, myself, Tony and the rest of our coaching staff and scouting staff certainly have a collective vision for."
