CHARLOTTE — At some point this week, we were going to have to talk about Travis Hunter.

The No. 2 overall pick and reigning Heisman winner will be making his NFL debut on Sunday, and the Panthers are the lucky team to get to face the two-way player first in the league. The Jaguars have made no secret of the fact that Hunter will play both ways, with his snaps split not on workload so much as personnel.

"I don't know what they're going to do with him," admitted Dave Canales on Wednesday. "I don't know, you know how they're going to use him in different ways; as a traditional wide receiver, is there gonna be gadgets that come out of that? Defensively as well, playing, is he just going to play the corner spot? Is he going to return punts for them?"

During his final season in college, Hunter finished Top 5 in the FBS with 1,258 total yards, second in receiving touchdowns (15), sixth in yards per game (96.8), tied for ninth in passes defended as a corner (15), and had four interceptions.

The NFL is inevitably different than college, though, and while Hunter was undoubtedly the star of the Colorado Buffaloes and the primary focus of opponents, in a league where he'll be joining other Pro Bowlers on the field, the dynamic changes a bit…but not wholly.

"There's all these question marks about, you know, a really talented player like Travis Hunter," Canales said, continuing, "but for us, it's really about assignment football. Regardless of who's out there—he's a phenomenal player, we've played against unbelievable players just throughout the course of time, so you really just have to approach it the same way. It starts with us knowing how to line up, knowing how to communicate and execute."

It creates a lot of unknowns, albeit for both teams, and a reliance on Hunter's college tape to prepare. The Panthers have a couple of guys on their roster who are familiar with that game, though. In addition to rookie receiver Jimmy Horn Jr., who played with Hunter at Colorado—but insist the two haven't been trash talking this week since, "Travis really ain't too much of a guy to go back and forth with you about something, likes to handle business"—the offense also another rookie receiver who has a lot of experience with Hunter: Tetairoa McMillan.

The two faced off against each other twice in college, splitting the game and rep wins. McMillan had five catches for 38 yards in the 2024 matchup, as the Buffs got the win. In 2023, though, TMac helped Arizona win when he pulled in nine catches on 15 targets for 107 yards and a touchdown, as well as drawing a DPI flag on Hunter.

The two were facing off in the red zone during that '23 matchup when Wildcats quarterback Noah Fifita saw pressure and trusted TMac against the eventual Heisman winner.

"It was a run play," McMillan said Wednesday, pointing out the running back on screen as he watched the play for the first time in years. "(Fifita) checked out of it before this. It was a huge play that got us, I think, inside the 10-yard line. I mean, it was supposed to be (the rushers) touchdown, but he was mad," laughed McMillan.

"But he just gave me the fade….he put it in a perfect spot for me, only I can get it."

Having faced Hunter twice already, though, McMillan knows what the challenge can be.

"I feel like what people don't realize is that playing both sides is like a study guide for the players you go up against," McMillan explained. "Him playing both DB and receiver, he knows how the DB is going to play and how the receiver is going to play. So I feel like he has that advantage of knowing how to play both sides of the ball.

"For me, all I can do is just do what I know best, really just stick to the fundamentals and don't get outside my game and don't try to do too much and don't try to be a superstar, and it's OK to make the easy plays."

The fundamentals were a running theme when discussing Hunter on Wednesday.

As nickel defensive back Chau Smith-Wade said, "technique travels," and technique is crucial when facing such a dynamic player whose innate athleticism can beat someone a hair off their spot.

"Honestly, he's a two-way player, you know, we're going to go out there and line up. Technique travels, so that's what we're honing in on right now, technique on him," Smith-Wade promised.

"It doesn't matter to me who's out there, you know, we're looking at schemes in all honesty, you can't beat fundamentals of football; angles, timing, spaces, so whoever's out there, I'm going to play it off that. I'm going to go off the fundamentals of the game, and we're going to go from there."