The Las Vegas Raiders are hosting the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 9, and they are two teams in similar situations. The Jaguars are a bit further ahead with a 4-3 record, but they are also coming off an embarrassing loss to a Super Bowl contender.
They are also coming off a bye week, so both teams are fresh and hoping to get back on track. One thing the Raiders have to do if they hope to win is limit Travis Hunter. After a slow start, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft is starting to find his stride.
Even in the loss to the Los Angeles Rams, he had eight catches for 101 yards and a touchdown. That’s not to mention that he took 14 snaps at cornerback. Raiders head coach Pete Carroll spoke highly of Hunter before the Week 9 matchup.
“He’s a really good football player,” Carroll told reporters on Wednesday. “But it shows. He’s got savvy, he’s got toughness about him, he’s playmaking. You can see him stealing the ball from guys when he’s making catches, and aggressive in his coverage, as well. He’s a really good blocker. … He’s a really good talent. He had a great game this past week, so he’s on a roll now.”
Carroll Reveals If He Would Play Hunter Both Ways
Hunter has yet to have a Shohei Ohtani-type impact on both sides of the ball, but the Jaguars are giving him plenty of reps at cornerback. His main position has been at wide receiver, but he still has value to the defense.
Whether or not he can play both positions at a high level remains a heated topic of debate. In the modern NFL, there has never been a player to play both sides of the ball consistently. Carroll questioned Hunter if he’d be able to pull it off before the draft.
“The first thing I asked him when we interviewed him was, ‘Is this any big deal to go both ways?’ And he said, ‘No, no way.’ I mean, he took it like I thought he would because the only way he could’ve done that through his college years and all that was to have a great attitude about it. It was never even a burden to him. He’s been playing both ways since he was in little league football.
“And he hasn’t known it any different, so it seems so unique to everybody for this to occur, but it isn’t to him.”
Carroll was totally on board with the idea of playing Hunter both ways if the Raiders were able to draft him.
“I would’ve loved to have played him both ways, too. I would’ve loved to have the chance to do that,” Carroll said. “That’s what we talked about in the interview, and he was right on it as far as the mentality it would take to do something like that.
Raiders Need Bounceback Performance
Unfortunately for the Raiders, they don’t get the advantage of coming off a bye week against a team that isn’t rested. While the Jaguars have a better record, neither team has been playing great football consistently this season.
This is close to a must-win for the Raiders. They have a short week against the AFC West-leading Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football. Beating the Jaguars would show that the Raiders are able to bounce back from a bad performance. A loss would effectively end the team’s chances of competing for the playoffs this season.
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