Will he or won’t he?
Conflicting reports emerged this offseason about whether Travis Hunter will play on both sides of the ball this season. Jaguars General Manager James Gladstone put the talk of Hunter focusing on defense to rest.
Hunter will continue to see action at wide receiver and cornerback this season.
“He is set to play both sides of the ball,” Gladstone said on The Rich Eisen Show on Wednesday. “The piece that I think we can expect to see is actually an uptick in corner usage. Last year it was a higher volume, higher percentage of wide receiver usage than it was corner. I think we can expect to see that corner percentile and count go up. That’s not to say anything impacts his availability and usage on offense. It just means that cornerback usage will increase.”
Hunter played 324 offensive snaps and 162 defensive snaps in seven appearances as a rookie before his season-ending knee injury. He had 28 catches for 298 yards and a touchdown on offense to go with 15 tackles on defense.
The Jaguars have a bigger need at cornerback this season.
“It’s not to say [his snaps] won’t increase on offense either, but it was lower on the defensive side this past season,” Gladstone said. “We also have a different defensive cornerback room and the bodies are different than it was a year ago. Our roster construction is different than it was a year ago, so it’s more fitting to slot him at corner than it was last year.”
Hunter has made clear he wants to play both ways and plans to play both ways. He played 688 defensive snaps and 672 on offense in his Heisman Trophy-winning season at Colorado in 2024.
“He wants to play both ways,” Gladstone said. “He wants to do exactly what he set out to do when he first started putting that into action all those years ago. That’s his dream, and we’ll support that in the best way we can and do what we feel like is in the best interest of winning football games. That’s putting him in position to do what he does best and that’s with the ball in his hands and in defending some of the best receivers.”
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Recently, former NFL defensive end and former ESPN and Fox Sports on-air personality Marcellus Wiley was accused of sexual assault by four individuals. The claims, which were addressed in an item on Awful Announcing, were first reported by Rolling Stone on April 29.
On Tuesday morning, Wiley responded publicly to the new accusations on his YouTube show.
“Pick a date, pick the encounter, pick the allegation,” Wiley said. “For every one of them, I either saw, communicated — through email, text, phone — was invited by these individuals after these dates to engage, to be intimate, or all the above. After the dates that are in question, OK? So this matters. Why does it matter? . . . Because it directly contradicts the narrative that they’re trying to present publicly.”
He posed a simple question to the accusers. “Why did you continue to see or maintain friendly communication at minimum that can be verified — will be verified — with someone that you’re accusing after the alleged incidents?”
Wiley compared his situation to the Stefon Diggs criminal trial, which at the time had not yet ended. (On Tuesday, Diggs was acquitted of strangulation and assault charges.)
Unlike Diggs, Wiley faces accusations from multiple persons. Unlike Diggs, Wiley has not faced criminal charges.
Wiley has vowed to defend his name, especially since his son carries that same name.
“To you, it’s about money,” Wiley said. “To me, it’s about my son’s name that he will one day Google and think that this is about him, but he’s gonna know it’s about his dad. And how dare you stain the brain of my child and his hero.”
Wiley did not address any of the details in the allegations. And that’s smart. Anything he says can be used against him in court by the persons who have made the accusations.
On Tuesday night, Wiley posted on Twitter court documents showing that three prior allegations have been dismissed.
Columbia University also has been named in the new lawsuit, which seeks certification of a class action against Wiley and Columbia. Via Rolling Stone, a hearing regarding potential certification of a class action will be held on May 12.
Wiley will have the right to fully and aggressively defend himself against the allegations. And, again, he has faced no criminal charges at any time in connection with any of the claims.
Where the litigation goes from here remains to be seen. Wiley’s initial response makes it clear that he intends to aggressively fight all of the allegations.
Wiley spent 10 years in the NFL, playing for the Bills, Chargers, Cowboys, and Jaguars. He worked for ESPN through 2018, and he then worked at Fox Sports until 2022.
Former NFL defensive end and Fox Sports and ESPN on-air personality Marcellus Wiley is facing four claims of sexual assault, according to Drew Lerner of Awful Announcing.
The allegations appear in court filings made last month. Per the report, the four new claimants are in addition to three existing claims of sexual assault against Wiley. He previously dubbed the prior claims “B.S.,” and his lawyer formally denied the allegations in court papers.
As explained by Lerner, one of the new claims was made by an ESPN production assistant who claims that Wiley assaulted her in his hotel room. Another claim, per the report, was made by a woman who contends that Wiley raped her on her 18th birthday, after allegedly “grooming” her since she was 13.
Wiley left Fox Sports in 2022. He has produced podcast content independently since then.
A second-round pick out of Columbia in 1997, Wiley spent four years with the Bills, three with the Chargers, one with the Cowboys, and two with the Jaguars. He was a Pro Bowler and a second-team All-Pro in 2001.
UPDATE 5/6/2026 10:00 a.m. ET: On Tuesday, Wiley strongly denied the new allegations. He also posted documents on Twitter showing that three prior claims were dismissed.
Deuce Jones-Drew will be following in his father’s footsteps. In more ways than one.
Deuce, like Maurice was, is a running back. Deuce, like Maurice did, plans to attend UCLA.
Via Eli Lederman of ESPN, Deuce Jones-Drew has committed to enter UCLA as part of the class of 2027. He picked the Bruins over Arizona and Cal, after narrowing his list of potential schools from seven.
Deuce plays at De La Salle High School in California. Currently, he’s 5-8 and 175 pounds. While height doesn’t matter (he’s already an inch taller than his dad), Deuce will need to add some bulk to his frame in the coming months.
A three-star prospect, Deuce Jones-Drew was recruited to UCLA by first-year head coach Bob Chesney and running backs coach A.J. Steward, who remains from Deshaun Foster’s coaching staff.
Maurice played at UCLA from 2003 to 2005. He became a unanimous All-American. A second-round pick of the Jaguars in 2006, Maurice had three 1,000-yard rushing seasons in the NFL. He led the NFL in rushing in 2011, with 1,606 yards.
Maurice Jones-Drew was a three-time Pro Bowler and a first-team All-Pro in 2011. He finished second in the voting for offensive rookie of the year in 2006 to Titans quarterback Vince Young.
After eight seasons in Jacksonville, Maurice Jones-Drew capped his NFL career with a season in Oakland. He gained 8,167 rushing yards in a nine-year career.
The Browns have hired longtime NFL executive Trent Baalke in a “consultant-like capacity,” Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reports.
The Jaguars fired Baalke as General Manager in the 2025 offseason, and he was out of the NFL last season. Baalke served in that role for four seasons in Jacksonville.
He was also General Manager for the 49ers from 2011-16.
During Baalke’s tenure in Jacksonville, the Jaguars went 25-43 with head coaches Urban Meyer and Doug Pederson, along with interim coach Darrell Bevell.
Baalke, 62, began his NFL run in 1998 as a scout for the Jets.
In addition to his time with the 49ers and Jaguars, Baalke has also worked for the Commanders.
Former Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar is headed to Jacksonville.
Aguilar was one of 18 undrafted free agents to agree to terms with the Jaguars after the draft ended on Saturday. Aguilar initially transferred from Appalachian State to UCLA before the 2025 season, but then moved on to Tennessee after Nico Iamaleava chose to transfer from the Volunteers to the Bruins.
Aguilar threw for 3,565 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing 67.3 percent of his passes.
Trevor Lawrence, Nick Mullens and Carter Bradley are the other quarterbacks on the Jacksonville roster.
The Jaguars also announced agreements with Cal defensive lineman T.J. Bollers, Utah State wide receiver Brady Boyd, South Dakota State wide receiver Alex Bullock, Troy tight end Ethan Conner, UCLA offensive lineman Garrett DiGiorgio, Michigan State defensive end Quindarius Dunnigan, Colorado cornerback Preston Hodge, Cincinnati defensive lineman Jalen Hunt, North Carolina State cornerback Devon Marshall, Virginia safety Devin Neal, North Texas offensive lineman Jimto Obidegwu, Texas-Permian Basin wide receiver Ben Patterson, Penn State wide receiver Trebor Pena, Virginia running back J’Mari Taylor, South Carolina defensive end Bryan Thomas Jr., Vanderbilt offensive lineman Jordan White, and Montana wide receiver Michael Wortham.
Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft has come to an end with the Jaguars picking the last player of the night.
At No. 100 overall, Jacksonville selected safety Jalen Huskey out of Maryland.
Huskey spent his first two collegiate seasons at Bowling Green before transferring to Maryland in 2024. He was a Second-team All-Big Ten honoree in 2025, having recorded 72 total tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss and four interceptions.
The Bills are currently set to start the final day of the 2026 NFL Draft at pick No. 101 in the fourth round.
The Jaguars traded their 2026 first-round pick as part of a package to move up to No. 2 overall to select Travis Hunter in 2025. They had a long wait to make their first pick of 2026.
Jaguars head coach Liam Coen joked Thursday that he “waited a lot longer before,” referring to 2022 when he was offensive coordinator of the Rams. Los Angeles didn’t make its first pick until No. 104 overall, the next-to-last pick in the third round.
The Jaguars had only to wait until 56th overall this year.
They used the choice on Texas A&M tight end Nate Boerkircher.
The Jaguars have only four players under contract at the position, with Brenton Strange, Quintin Morris and Hunter Long all scheduled for free agency in 2027. (Strange will return.)
Boerkircher, a one-year starter for the Aggies, was a Y tight end with 69 percent of snaps in line. He made a career-high 19 catches for 198 yards and three touchdowns in his only season in College Station after transferring from Nebraska.
The Jaguars have 11 total picks, including four in the top 100.
Last year, the Jaguars gave up this year’s first-round pick as part of the effort to move up three spots to get Travis Hunter. This year, the Jaguars may be using a prior first-round pick to get another one.
As the draft approaches, we’re told that the Jaguars may be trying to lay the foundation for a potential trade into the bottom of round one. The potential bait could include receiver Brian Thomas Jr.
Thomas has been a consistent subject of trade chatter. Last month, G.M. James Gladstone called such talk “fraudulent.”
A first-round pick in 2024, Thomas had a strong rookie season — 87 catches, 1,282 yards, 10 touchdowns in 17 games. In 14 games last year, Thomas had 48 catches for 707 yards and two touchdowns.
In 2025, receiver Parker Washington led the team with 58 catches and 847 receiving yards. In nine games after a trade from the Raiders, receiver Jakobi Meyers had 42 catches for 483 yards.
Hunter becomes the wild card. He was primarily a receiver a year ago. If that continues, he’d join Washington and Meyers as the top three options at the position, if the rumors end up not being quite so fraudulent.
For whatever reason, Thomas didn’t have the same impact under Liam Coen. With both the coach and G.M. who were with the team when Thomas was drafted gone, he becomes an asset the Jaguars could utilize in an effort to crash the round-one party.
Much of it depends on whether a player the Jaguars covet is available as the first round moves past the first 20 picks or so — and whether there’s a team in that window that would prefer to trade its first-round pick for Thomas.
The reality is that every first-round pick, when used, becomes essentially a trade for that player. The question is whether a team would rather trade that pick for an unproven incoming player, or whether that team would trade the pick for a player who made a significant splash in his first NFL season.
For now, the Jaguars won’t be on the clock until the 24th pick in round two, after 55 other players are selected. They have ten other picks, including three third-round selections.
The Jaguars formally exercised the fifth-year option on Anton Harrison’s contract for 2027, the team announced on Monday.
General Manager James Gladstone announced last month that the team would pick up the one-year fully guaranteed option for $19 million on the right tackle’s deal.
The Jaguars hope to sign Harrison to a long-term deal.
Harrison has started all 49 regular-season and playoff games he has played since Jacksonville selected him with the 27th pick of the 2023 draft.
He played 15 games in 2025.
