The Jacksonville Jaguars put all their chips in on Travis Hunter.
During the 2025 NFL Draft last April, the Jaguars gave up the 2025 No. 5 overall pick, plus second-round and fourth-round picks in 2025 and a 2026 first-round pick, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter at the time, for the right to draft Hunter at No. 2 overall.
Hunter, then the reigning Heisman winner, was viewed as a once-in-a-generation athletic specimen with the potential to play both ways regularly, as he had at Colorado under head coach Deion Sanders. Sanders reached the Pro Football Hall of Fame as an All-Pro cornerback, but he played defensive back and wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys in 1996.
As a rookie, Hunter played 324 snaps at wide receiver and 162 snaps at cornerback before suffering a noncontact injury at practice last October. He underwent season-ending surgery to repair his LCL in his right knee last November.
Schefter shed light on the Jaguars’ plan for Hunter next season while visiting “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday.
“It’s middle of April, and there’s a lot of ways this can go, but here’s the way I expect it to go right now,” Schefter said. “He is going to have his snaps at cornerback spike this year. It was 162 snaps on defense last year [and] 324 on offense. He’s still going to play offense, too. […] The difference this year is just that they lost Greg Newsome in free agency to the New York Giants.”
The renowned NFL insider noted that the Jaguars could draft another cornerback in the 2026 NFL Draft later this month, but Jacksonville’s plan as of now is to “use [Hunter] at wide receiver again, just the way they did last year, and to have his snaps spike at the cornerback position.”
Schefter added, “That’s why they gave up all the picks to go get Travis Hunter is to have the luxury to be able to play him at both slots, and if you need him at a certain spot, you can insert him at that spot. They need him now at cornerback. They lost a good cornerback in free agency.”
Schefter’s report comes after NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported last Thursday that the Jaguars want to utilize Hunter as “a full-time corner, part-time receiver” next season. People grabbed onto the “full-time corner” part and took it to mean that Hunter’s two-way days were behind him.
Hunter responded to Rapoport’s report on Sunday, posting on X, “Now who told you this?” with the thinking face emoji.
Hunter appeared in four games for the Jaguars before his injury last season. He posted 28 catches for 298 yards and one touchdown as a receiver, plus three passes defended and 15 tackles (11 solo) as a cornerback.
To Schefter’s point about where Hunter is needed most, the Jaguars’ wide receiver room is stacked.
Jacksonville acquired then-Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Jakobi Meyers around the Nov. 4 trade deadline. Meyers immediately elevated the offense and earned a three-year extension by December.
Parker Washington, Jacksonville’s sixth-round pick in 2023, emerged as a favorite target for quarterback Trevor Lawrence and led the Jaguars with 847 yards and five touchdowns last season.
And while 2024 first-round pick Brian Thomas Jr. experienced a sophomore slump in 2025, he’s still an extremely talented receiver who posted 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns as a rookie.
Meanwhile, the Jaguars are devoid of surefire answers at cornerback outside of Hunter ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft, which starts on April 23.
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