James Gladstone: Travis Hunter is a reminder to challenge the boundaries of football

Jaguars General Manager James Gladstone made sure his first draft in his current job was a memorable one.

Gladstone traded a second-round pick and next year's first-rounder to the Browns in order to select cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter with the second overall pick on Thursday night. After making the pick, Gladstone said it was an opportunity to show that the Jaguars will make "bold" moves as they pursue a Super Bowl and he reiterated at a Friday press conference with Hunter in Jacksonville that the team wanted to make a statement with the selection.

"Really what comes to mind for me, thinking about the sport of football and really the power of the game itself — its capacity to ignite belief," Gladstone said. "Belief in ourselves, belief in others, belief in achieving what many may deem impossible. Travis Hunter, he embodies belief. He’s a rare person, he’s a rare player, but he’s also a reminder that the boundaries of the game of football were built to be challenged. The decision to select him was actually a statement. A statement for how we plan to move, who we are and we want him to be nothing more than him. Because when he is, he elevates the space around him. From the football field to the city to the game of football itself, Travis Hunter is who we've been hunting up."

There's little doubt about the Jaguars' conviction in Hunter and they'll now get to work on making sure that he lives up to those expectations on the field.