Ready for two unpopular Travis Hunter opinions, two unpopular opinions that have clearly become fact during the Jacksonville Jaguars’ first two games?
Maybe Hunter isn’t good enough at cornerback to be an every-play option instead of Buster Brown and Jarrian Jones.
Right now.
And maybe Hunter isn’t good enough at receiver to cut into the playing time earned by Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers and Brian Thomas, Jr.
Right now.
Sometimes, the truth hurts, and in the aftermath of Hunter playing a combined 66 of 113 (56.9%) of the Jaguars’ defensive snaps, the crying and whining and complaining nationally — and some locally — point the blame at coach Liam Coen, defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile and the rest of the staff for how they’re using Hunter.
How dare they not play Hunter more — he’s a two-way star!
(He’s not a two-way star yet.)
Why are they keeping their best athlete off the field!
(How do we know he is?)
Thing is … the Jaguars are doing the right thing.
Hunter has a whopping 10 games of NFL experience. He didn’t play one snap in the preseason to get tuned up for the real deal. The Jaguars have other good players at cornerback and receiver. And, most importantly, a player’s draft status (Hunter was selected second overall in April 2025) shouldn’t dictate their playing time.
Coen and Co. are making Hunter earn his role. Good.
Reviewing Hunter’s play on defense
Hunter played 39 defensive snaps against the Denver Broncos on Sept. 20 and said the coaching staff has been up front in explaining the rotation with him, Brown and Jones.
“That was the plan,” Hunter said in the Jaguars’ locker room. “(The) coaches tell me what I have to do and I follow their plan and follow their lead. My job is to go out and play no matter when they put me out there so that’s what I try to do.”
Fair enough.
I re-watched all 66 of Hunter’s defensive snaps against Cleveland (Week 1) and Denver (Week 2). We don’t know the defensive play calls. We don’t know who a quarterback’s first option is on the play.
Against the Browns, Hunter played great man coverage on a Jaguars sack. He allowed a four-yard catch on second-and-11 when playing nine yards off the line of scrimmage. It was a non-descript debut.
Against the Broncos, Hunter had three positive and three negative plays.
Positive plays: Pass break-up on Denver’s initial third-down play and two open-field tackles. For a player listed at 185 pounds, Hunter is a willing tackler.
Negative plays: Gave up a seven-yard pass to receiver Courtland Sutton when Hunter appeared to have his eyes on the quarterback instead of Sutton’s in-cut. … Allowed a 17-yard catch by tight end Evan Engram when he played way off Engram and couldn’t catch up to him on his crossing route. … And a 22-yard pass interference penalty when covering Sutton; the Broncos scored on the next play.
What stood about Hunter is the complete fluidity with which he moves around the field. Back-pedals. Flipping his hips to change directions. Doesn’t waste steps.
The Jaguars seem fine rotating Brown (first year of a $30 million contract), Jones (impending free agent) and Hunter and they can’t say, “Hey, Bo Nix, throw it Hunter’s way so our trade for him to justify for him.”
Ways to get Hunter involved
Before the Jaguars-Broncos game, one veteran Denver media member told me he would have projected Hunter as a better receiver than cornerback in the NFL, a notable bit of insight considering Hunter played at Colorado.
That brings us to Hunter’s offensive role … and a lack thereof. He has 10 offensive snaps in two games (two touches).
Several factors have limited Hunter’s usage on offense: The Jaguars have used two or more tight ends on 50 snaps, which means one or even two fewer receivers on the field. … You’re not going to take many snaps away from Washington and Meyers to get Hunter on the field. … And does he have the required time-on-task to have the trust of quarterback Trevor Lawrence?
Thomas dropped two passes against the Broncos. Maybe it’s time to curtail his playing time to let Hunter achieve a pass-game rhythm and catch passes down the field. Or maybe it’s time to put him back at punt returner if Washington needs a breather.
“When you struggle offensively, you look at the totality of it all and Travis is a big part of that, obviously, we’re looking at and continuing to find different ways to get him involved,” Coen said on Sept. 23.
Look, the Jaguars traded premium draft assets (one first-, second and fourth-round pick apiece for fourth- and sixth-round picks and the swap of 2025 firsts) for a non-premium position. You trade for a quarterback or a left tackle or a pass rusher. Sky-high expectations were created by the cost of the acquisition, expectations that will be tough for Hunter to meet even if he is just a solid one-way player.
Jaguars fans want so desperately for Hunter to work out because true “stars” have been a precious commodity in franchise history and they don’t want their franchise to be a punchline for the trade.
The bottom line: Give it some time, folks. Trust Coen. Trust the process, plan and strategy the Jaguars have in place.
Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com or on X at @ryanohalloran. Listen to Ryan on 1010AM on Tuesdays (6:35 p.m. on “Into The Night"), Thursdays (1:15 on "XL Primetime") and Fridays ("First Coast Football Friday" 4-7 p.m.).
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars doing right thing by not handing Travis Hunter full-time duty
