The Jacksonville Jaguars went all in to acquire the reigning Heisman Trophy winner in the 2025 NFL Draft. New general manager James Gladstone sent the Cleveland Browns a package of picks headlined by a future first-rounder for the right to select wide receiver and cornerback Travis Hunter. The Jaguars executed this trade with the goal of making Hunter a two-way player.
Gladstone even said this playmaker was capable of pushing the boundaries of football. "He's a rare person," Gladstone said last year. But he's also a reminder that the boundaries of the game of football we built to be challenged.
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." Through nine career games, the results have been disappointing to say the least. Hunter caught 28 passes for 298 yards and one touchdown, and made 15 tackles with three passes defensed in seven games played as a rookie before an LCL injury knocked him out for the rest of the year.
Through two games this season, Hunter's usage has come under more scrutiny. He's caught one pass for eight yards, rushed once for three yards, and made five tackles with one pass defensed. It was believed that Hunter was going to play more cornerback this year -- although the Jaguars will never walk back their original plan of him being a two-way player.
Hunter has played 58.4% of snaps on defense through two weeks, and just 8.6% of offensive snaps. This has led to more questions, because why is Hunter playing such few snaps? There's plenty to criticize from the Jags' 20-13 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
The secondary struggled to contain Jaylen Waddle, and the offense fell flat in the final quarter. As head coach Liam Coen evaluated the first loss of the season, he came to the conclusion that Hunter needs to be more involved on offense. "Any time you struggle offensively, specifically, you look at the totality of it all, and Travis is a big part of that obviously that we're looking at continuing to find different ways to get him involved," Coen told reporters.
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