Travis Hunter offers high praise to Vikings rookie minicamp invitee
Travis Hunter offers high praise to Vikings rookie minicamp invitee
Travis Hunter is the reigning Heisman Trophy Winner, Bilitnikoff Award Winner, and Nagurski Award Winner. Not many college football players are as decorated as he is, nor have they won such a wide range of them. Despite all that, Hunter has been vocal about one player who has been his toughest competition in 2025.
When asked at the scouting combine who the toughest players he faced in college football were, Tommi Hill from Nebraska was mentioned among them.
The Nebraska cornerback started the season with much promise, but it quickly fell off. He ended up not receiving any combine invites, no workouts, but despite all of that he received an invite to the Vikings rookie minicamp to see what he has to offer.
While Tommi Hill faces an uphill battle, he is very much someone who could provide a lot of upside with minimal risk. If he can make it through rookie minicamp, and into the team's general offseason activities, they may have something in him
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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
J.J. McCarthy minicamp reps may not induce headlines — but that's OK (and intentional)
EAGAN, Minn. — The second mandatory minicamp practice had just finished, and there was the Minnesota Vikings' new center Ryan Kelly, cradling his helmet next to the field and saying things like, 'This is the most talented team I've ever been around top to bottom.' You really feel that way? 'Oh yeah,' Kelly said. 'It's impressive.' Advertisement His former team, the Colts, hasn't had the rosiest recent past. Indianapolis only made the playoffs twice in Kelly's nine-year tenure with the club, but still, this observation means something. The 32-year-old knows his way around a locker room. He's played for multiple coaches, snapped the ball to plenty of quarterbacks and rubbed shoulders with almost every type of teammate. Kelly saying this was — at the bare minimum — internal validation of the widely held external beliefs about these Vikings. With elite talent comes immense responsibility, especially at quarterback. There is a reason J.J. McCarthy is a popular talking point in the NFL universe. There is a reason he is deserving of space right here. His burden is large. These Vikings, built to go further than was realistically possible in years past, will succeed or fail with the youngster. Kelly understands that. 'I think that's also why I'm here,' he said. He's right. Kelly's presence is just one of the countless steps taken by coach Kevin O'Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to maximize what's possible. It's not that former Vikings center Garrett Bradbury didn't have experience, especially within Minnesota's system. Kelly, though, is both a better player and a key cog who has worked with different quarterback personalities, skill sets and experience levels. Andrew Luck, Jacoby Brissett, Philip Rivers, Matt Ryan, Anthony Richardson and others require varying degrees of assistance. One might suspect Kelly would be spending these practices passing tidbits to McCarthy. He's not. This, too, is calculated. Why make things easy when there is no report card? Why not challenge McCarthy to assess all of the potential defensive looks? Why not evaluate what it looks like when he has to take everything in, then spit out play calls with lengthy verbiage? Why not ask him to adjust protections and try to get the offense into the right play? Advertisement Why remove an aspect of traditional development simply because you have a center who can serve as a backstop? 'If you never have to do all of this,' Kelly said, 'you're looking through it like a tiny lens. In order to see the full picture, you have to have coaches who demand that of you. His development to understand is more important than me showing how capable I am. We want to push this guy, and he's responded incredibly well. He's a very smart guy.' The extent of the demands is partially why O'Connell scoffs at those who track McCarthy's results on days like these. McCarthy may progress from the front side of a concept to the back side and hit a receiver in stride, but could he have identified something in the coverage that would have quickened his progression? McCarthy may drill a receiver running a go route, but did he make that throw because the play call required so many words that he couldn't get it off in time? 9️⃣ to 3️⃣ 🎯🎯 — Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) June 10, 2025 This mental stress is but a fraction of what it'll feel like on Sundays in the fall. It's also just one component of the full picture that allows the most successful quarterbacks to thrive. There is the physical piece, encompassing everything from lower-half mechanics to the touch applied to throws upon release. The Vikings have never questioned McCarthy's sheer arm strength. They're looking for progress in his ability to induce an arc on the ball. There is the cognitive piece, the split-second decision-making process after the snap. Can you visualize the defense's structure and pull the trigger at the right time? Can you do it with 300-pound men bearing down on you in 2 1/2 seconds? There is also the psychological piece. Navigating real-world stressors and in-game trials calls for a sense of calm. Advertisement Each piece affects the other. Sounds easy, right? 'I think (J.J.) is right where he needs to be right now,' offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said Wednesday. 'And right where we thought he'd be. I don't think he'd come up here and say he mastered the offense. Every rep is a learning rep.' Every one of these days is an integral learning day, as cliched as that sounds, or as mundane as it looks. Although the Vikings shifted from organized team activities last week to minicamp this week, the speed of the drills remained the same. McCarthy has not taken one snap in an 11-on-11 setting with defensive coordinator Brian Flores' pass rush coming at him with its collective hair on fire. That doesn't mean Kelly, offensive line coach Chris Kuper, quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and O'Connell aren't conferring after practice about the next test they think would be valuable for McCarthy. That doesn't mean these opportunities aren't the ones that will allow all of the pieces of the puzzle to come together as smoothly as possible when it matters most.
CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
‘I bring the juice every day': Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter is having a blast during first NFL minicamp
Despite having a mountain of expectation on his shoulders, it appears that Travis Hunter remains unfazed. Hunter was the No. 2 overall pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2025 NFL Draft after a Heisman Trophy-winning season with the Colorado Buffaloes. The 22-year-old is a unique prospect given his two-way potential at college – he played on offense as a wide receiver and on defense as a cornerback – and his desire to feature on both sides of the ball in the NFL. But that pressure to excel at two different positions – which very few players have ever tried, let alone succeeded at, on the pro level – doesn't appear to be getting to Hunter. At his first few days of minicamp with the Jags, Hunter has been seen dancing before plays and laughing with his new teammates as he gets his first taste of offensive and defensive NFL football. Speaking to the media, the Florida native said he's had no issues letting his personality shine despite the step up. 'It's been very easy for me. The guys come in and I bring the juice every day,' Hunter told reporters. 'I always got a smile on my face and make everyone laugh when I get the chance. 'So we're just having fun and just being kids out here – just loving it and living our dream.' Whether Hunter's two-way game will be able to translate from the college level to the NFL is yet to be seen. From his perspective, Hunter says there's 'not really any difference' between playing on both sides of the ball on either level, adding that he needs to 'stay in the playbook and apply it to the field' if he wants to succeed. According to Jags defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile, Hunter has all the tools to be a two-way star in the NFL. 'He just has a wealth of talent. He's a super intelligent guy, which makes it really fun. He's really quick on the uptake, so he's a fun guy to coach, to be around,' Campanile told reporters on Wednesday. 'I know his position coaches love coaching him and it's pretty impressive to watch a guy do that. I think it's really cool. It's been really fun, but I also think the coaches … have done a great job of just getting him up to speed on everything, and he's done a great job responding to it.' Jacksonville fans got to see their players up close and personal on Wednesday as the team held a two-hour session open to the public, a rare occurrence for an NFL offseason practice. The stands at Miller Electric Center were full as spectators got their first opportunity to see the team under first-year head coach Liam Coen as well as the crop of new players, with Hunter being the headline act. Hunter called the open session a 'great experience' while Coen said the players increased their effort levels because of the fans' support. '(We) really felt them, the players fed off that, especially some of the younger guys feeling some of that support being rookies and never having a practice quite like this with fans here,' Coen told reporters on Wednesday. 'So really appreciate everybody coming out this week, today especially.'
CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
‘I bring the juice every day': Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter is having a blast during first NFL minicamp
Despite having a mountain of expectation on his shoulders, it appears that Travis Hunter remains unfazed. Hunter was the No. 2 overall pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2025 NFL Draft after a Heisman Trophy-winning season with the Colorado Buffaloes. The 22-year-old is a unique prospect given his two-way potential at college – he played on offense as a wide receiver and on defense as a cornerback – and his desire to feature on both sides of the ball in the NFL. But that pressure to excel at two different positions – which very few players have ever tried, let alone succeeded at, on the pro level – doesn't appear to be getting to Hunter. At his first few days of minicamp with the Jags, Hunter has been seen dancing before plays and laughing with his new teammates as he gets his first taste of offensive and defensive NFL football. Speaking to the media, the Florida native said he's had no issues letting his personality shine despite the step up. 'It's been very easy for me. The guys come in and I bring the juice every day,' Hunter told reporters. 'I always got a smile on my face and make everyone laugh when I get the chance. 'So we're just having fun and just being kids out here – just loving it and living our dream.' Whether Hunter's two-way game will be able to translate from the college level to the NFL is yet to be seen. From his perspective, Hunter says there's 'not really any difference' between playing on both sides of the ball on either level, adding that he needs to 'stay in the playbook and apply it to the field' if he wants to succeed. According to Jags defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile, Hunter has all the tools to be a two-way star in the NFL. 'He just has a wealth of talent. He's a super intelligent guy, which makes it really fun. He's really quick on the uptake, so he's a fun guy to coach, to be around,' Campanile told reporters on Wednesday. 'I know his position coaches love coaching him and it's pretty impressive to watch a guy do that. I think it's really cool. It's been really fun, but I also think the coaches … have done a great job of just getting him up to speed on everything, and he's done a great job responding to it.' Jacksonville fans got to see their players up close and personal on Wednesday as the team held a two-hour session open to the public, a rare occurrence for an NFL offseason practice. The stands at Miller Electric Center were full as spectators got their first opportunity to see the team under first-year head coach Liam Coen as well as the crop of new players, with Hunter being the headline act. Hunter called the open session a 'great experience' while Coen said the players increased their effort levels because of the fans' support. '(We) really felt them, the players fed off that, especially some of the younger guys feeling some of that support being rookies and never having a practice quite like this with fans here,' Coen told reporters on Wednesday. 'So really appreciate everybody coming out this week, today especially.'
