The official NFL schedule release isn’t until 8 p.m. ET, but matchups are leaking early, and we have a doozie in Week 1. Travis Hunter will make his debut at home in Jacksonville against Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.
This is a fascinating matchup for a lot of reasons. We have the curiosity of seeing how Jacksonville plans to use Hunter this season and whether he’ll take a lion’s share of snaps at cornerback or receiver. Beyond that we also have the stylistic matchup of Dave Canales and Liam Coen, two offensive masterminds responsible for the success of the Buccaneers in recent years.
We’ll get to see if Bryce Young’s late-season heroics were a fluke, or indicative that he’s put it all together — and finally an amazing potential rookie matchup on the outside if Hunter is tasked with covering Carolina rookie Tetairoa McMillan on the outside.
This is the first time the teams have met since 2019. Overall the Panthers and Jaguars have played seven times since joining the league together as expansion teams in 1995. Carolina holds a 4-3 overall record against Jacksonville, and has won the last three times the teams have met — but that means nothing now.
We knew that these two teams would be opponents in 2025, but an opening week matchup could give us some incredible drama.
