Naming Travis Hunter the X-factor for the Jacksonville Jaguars seems like low-hanging fruit.

Hunter has All-Pro talent at either wide receiver or cornerback. Though CB will be his primary responsibility this season, head coach Liam Coen has publicly said that Hunter will continue to be used on offense as well.

When the Jaguars drafted Hunter second overall in 2025, it was almost guaranteed he would become a superstar. His two-way ability made him one of the most hyped prospects to enter the NFL in a long time. Hunter was viewed as a generational talent who could dominate a game either offensively or defensively.

However, Hunter's path to superstardom has taken longer than expected. Used mostly at WR as a rookie, Hunter did not make the immediate impact most expected before a knee injury ended his season after only seven games.

Healthy again, Hunter is expected to have a breakout year, even if his usage heavily leans toward defense. He has the talent to be a true shutdown cornerback, and his potential at the position is exciting.

The massive expectations placed on Hunter have put an enormous amount of pressure on him to prove that he is a special player this season. He is expected to become not only one of the faces of the Jaguars, but also one of the faces of the entire league.

The Jaguars need him to produce at an elite level this season, whether at corner, wide receiver, or both. He is expected to be great.

That makes him more of a franchise pillar than an X-factor to me, but Ben Solak of ESPN still chose Hunter for Jacksonville in his piece picking one X-factor from each of the NFL's 32 teams.

Solak realizes Hunter's extraordinary talent would usually disqualify a player from being considered an X-factor. However, Solak says he will consider Hunter an X-factor until he proves himself as either a great WR or a great CB.

"I'm going to call Hunter an X factor until I feel confident in what he is -- and isn't -- capable of. I'm not close yet on either side of the ball. I thought Hunter was a better defensive back than wide receiver coming out of Colorado, but Hunter had only 154 snaps on defense before an injury to the LCL in his right knee last season -- not nearly enough to evaluate him. And, given his hybrid training camps, it was reasonable to expect him to be slow out of the gate.

"It looks now that Hunter will spend far more time on defense, where the Jaguars are deep (Montaric Brown, Jourdan Lewis and Jarrian Jones) but lack a true CB1. If Hunter, who would have been the highest-drafted cornerback in NFL history if he were just a regular corner, can settle into that role, the Jaguars will have two cornerstone pieces at edge rusher (Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker) and another at corner -- the premium positions.

"Hunter is particularly interesting as an X factor corner because he can play the ball and generate turnovers. I think he will risk some feast-or-famine play that might need smoothing over in the years to come, but in a zone-heavy approach under coordinator Anthony Campanile, it's reasonable to expect him to quickly be among the league's best in anticipating combinations and jumping routes.

"With Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers and Brian Thomas Jr. still in hand on offense, Hunter's impact on the other side of the ball might be minimal. But consider how big of an X factor he'll be if one of the three is lost because of a big injury, and suddenly a first-round talent is coming off the bench to fill some of the snaps. It's all still theoretical, but Hunter's potential impact is sky-high."

Solak's reasons are fair. Until Hunter shows everybody what he is capable of, we just don't know what he is capable of. He makes an especially compelling point about Hunter's ceiling as a wide receiver being a complete unknown.

There is Jacksonville's plan for him at WR, and then there is whatever may actually unfold due to injury or other factors. 

That alone makes Hunter an X-factor.

So does Hunter's potential to create turnovers as a cornerback, as Solak mentioned. Hunter's ability to take the ball away makes throwing in his direction a risky proposition for quarterbacks. Jacksonville's defense forced turnovers at an elite rate last year and is now adding a full-time CB with terrific ball-hawking ability.

As long as he remains healthy, Hunter appears a solid bet to reach the expectations that have been placed on him.

However, the fact that he has not proven what he is capable of yet does provide an X-factor dimension to his season. The range of possibilities for what he can accomplish this season is as wide as any player in the league.

He can be great at one position, two positions, or none. He can be the best player on Jacksonville's offense or defense. Or neither. Hunter can be used as a WR only sparingly, or he can be thrust into full-time duties there as well.

Whatever Hunter is able to accomplish this season will go a long way into what the Jaguars are able to accomplish.