The Jacksonville Jaguars improved to 3-1 on Sunday after defeating the San Francisco 49ers 26-21. The stars took center stage in this one so the Jags’ 2025 rookie class were quiet, but Travis Hunter did
give fans a glimpse of his ability downfield for the first time this season. Let’s break down his performance, as well as touch on the roles of the rest of the newcomers in Week 4.
Travis Hunter
After back-to-back weeks of pretty even splits on offense and defense, Travis Hunter’s role was scaled back a bit as he played almost exclusively at wide receiver on Sunday. He totaled 38 snaps with the offense and just 9 on defense which could have been a result on some early struggles at corner on the Niners first couple of drives.
That said, Hunter did have his second splash play in as many weeks in a huge moment in the second quarter. The rookie ran a post to the middle of the field on 3rd and 15 and Trevor Lawrence fired a fast ball to him. Despite it being a little high, Hunter made a terrific play to pull it in and convert on third. That catch set up the Jaguars’ second (and final) touchdown drive so it was a big momentum boost for the team.
That said, Hunter also nearly had a costly turnover late in the game after Fred Warner punched the ball out after a catch. That would have taken an eventual three points off the board and set the Niners up with an opportunity to win with just a field goal if fellow rookie, Lequint Allen Jr., didn’t hop on the ball.
Overall it was an up and down day for Hunter as the team continues to figure out how to best deploy his skillset.
Bhayshul Tuten
Bhayshul Tuten continues to make splash plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars despite a limited role to this point. While his offensive stat line was pedestrian (5 touches for 22 yards), Tuten gave the team a huge boost with his 54 yard kick return right before the end of the first half (:40 left).
This set up a quick five play drive for the offense to get Cam Little a chip shot field goal to make the lead 17-6 at the break. It was a huge momentum saving play after the Jags had just allowed a quick field goal drive of their own that made it a one score game.
Jack Kiser
Rookie linebacker, Jack Kiser, got his first defensive snaps of the season on Sunday after being primarily used on special teams to this point. Kiser got in the game for 11 snaps and registered two tackles, and while he did have some rookie moments sprinkled in there, it was nice to see Kiser getting some experience with the 1’s in a real game scenario.
Rayuan Lane
Like Kiser, safety Rayuan Lane got his first burn on defense this season after Eric Murray needed a brief spell. Lane played eight snaps and finished the game without a registered statistic. However, the rookie out of Navy did have a costly penalty on special teams as he was smacked with a kick catch interference violation that allowed the Niners to start their drive on their own 41. They would eventually get a field goal out of it.
Jonah Monheim
Jonah Monheim continues to be solely used on special teams and has not yet gotten any action on offense aside from some kneel down reps back in Week 1. With the way Robert Hainsey is playing at center, it’s unlikely we see Monheim much at all this season.
LeQuint Allen Jr.
Things started pretty rough for LeQuint Allen Jr. on Sunday. After an opening drive field goal by the Niners, Allen received the ensuing kickoff and made a pretty big mental error when he attempted to catch the ball out of bounds to prompt an illegal procedure penalty. Unfortunately, one of his feet was still in bounds which set the Jacksonville offense way back at their own seven yard line and they would end up having to punt it away to open things up.
Allen wouldn’t play much of a factor the rest of the game (1 catch for 7 yards) until late in the fourth quarter when his hustle and instincts to jump on a loose fumble (T. Hunter) late in the third quarter saved a scoring drive (FG made it 26-14).
So a little bit of a redemption for the seventh round back.
Let us know your thoughts on the rookies in the comments below!
