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Travis Hunter injury should end experiment as two-way player for Jaguars
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- Travis Hunter injury should end experiment as two-way player for Jaguars
From the time Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen announced rookie receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter 's right knee injury on Oct. 31, we all expected Hunter to be out for the rest of the season, right?
Non-contact injuries are bad news. Hunter was injured playing defense in practice on Oct. 30.
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Placing a player immediately on injured reserve is bad news. The Jaguars put Hunter on IR hours after Coen revealed the injury.
Coen's somber tone was bad news. Yes, Hunter was eligible to return in four games, but Coen's demeanor told a different story.
And the bad news for the Jaguars and Hunter arrived Nov. 11 when the team said he underwent surgery to repair the lateral collateral ligament in Dallas , ending his season after only seven games.
Great Two-Way Football Player Experiment 2025 is over.
And there shouldn't be a Great Two-Way Football Player Experiment 2026.
Hunter should be the Jaguars' No. 1 receiver next season.
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Sorry, fans. Whenever I suggest this, some fans act like I'm insulting a member of their family, like they want to cheer for the novelty of Hunter attempting to play both ways as opposed to cheering for Hunter to be an excellent receiver or excellent cornerback and help their team, you know, win games. One reader even brought up a pre-draft quote from Hunter saying he wouldn't play if he couldn't play both ways. Um, yeah, right. Me thinks he likes his paycheck and endorsement money.
The reality is two-fold:
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Health.
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Effectiveness.
The health component is front and center after Hunter had surgery.
Remember, he missed a good chunk of practice and the final two preseason games because of an upper body injury, so much time that he was on-boarding during Week 1 against Carolina (42 snaps offense/8 snaps defense). He played 86 snaps (partly due to cornerback Jarrian Jones ' injury) against Cincinnati , 80 against Houston , but 47 at San Francisco (38 offense/nine defense). His last three games were 64 snaps against Kansas City, 81 against both Seattle and the Los Angeles Rams .
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Hunter played 486 snaps (69.4 per game) -- 324 offense/162 defense. The Jaguars had to play him more on offense because of receiver Brian Thomas, Jr.'s struggles. When they returned from the bye week to prepare for Las Vegas , my expectation was the passing game was being designed to go through Hunter.
And now he will spend the next six months rehabiliating. Football is a high-collision (they tackle), high-velocity (they run fast and cut suddently, pounding on the joints), high-volume (17 games) sport. There is a 100% chance of being injured and the nicks, dings, bruises, pulls and tears tend to pile on top of each other.
Deciding to focus on Hunter being a receiver in 2026 will help him stay healthy.
The effectiveness component is critical to the Jaguars, who swung for the fences to trade up for Hunter on Draft Night. They gave Cleveland Nos. 5, 36, 126 and next year's first-rounder for Nos. 2, 104 and 200.
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Shouldn't they make sure Hunter is elite at something before re-committing to the two-way experiment?
Hunter ended his rookie season with 28 catches for 298 yards and one touchdown. He really was getting there at receiver. On defense, he had 15 tackles and three pass break-ups.
Hunter can make a bigger impact in 2026 at receiver because of equal parts necessity (playing him full time on offense would allow them to trade Thomas) and opportunity (I guarantee he would score more touchdowns on offense than defense). Are there really any shutdown cornerbacks in the NFL anymore? The three leading players in interceptions are two linebackers ( Chicago 's Tremaine Edmunds and the Jaguars' Devin Lloyd ) and one safety (Chicago's Kevin Byard ).
Tell Hunter soon, "Hey, we don't have many building-block players, but yuo're one of them and to maximize your ability, we are telling you to focus on receiver. Might you play some cornerback in a pinch? Possibly. Might you have a two-way role in 2027 and beyond? Possibly."
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The Jaguars, because of what they traded to draft Hunter, need to play the long game.
Hunter didn't make it through his first training camp before being injured, same for one half of his rookie regular season.
The New Hunter Plan is about keeping him healthy and impacful long-term. If he makes it through 2026 without incident, then I would be open to another conversation based on what Coen and general manger James Gladstone do in addressing the receiver and cornerback depth charts.
If the Jaguars re-sign cornerbacks Greg Newsome (and they need to after trading Tyson Campbell for him on Oct. 8) and Buster Brown, they can team them with Jourdan Lewis and a Draft Pick To Be Determined in 2026. What about receiver? Issues. Jakobi Meyers is a free agent and Thomas' future here is murky at best. The Jaguars should prioritize re-signing Meyers and having a top trio of Hunter-Meyers-To Be Determined (maybe Parker Washington ).
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The Jaguars have one second- and three third-round picks in next year's draft. They should focus on improving the cornerback spot so Hunter can focus on receiver.
Contact O'Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: When Travis Hunter returns, he should be receiver only.
