Jaguars must stop rotating Travis Hunter to unleash true potential

When the Jacksonville Jaguars traded up to select Travis Hunter second overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, they had to give up a massive haul. But they did it because they believed the former Heisman Trophy winner could not only change the landscape of the NFL but sports as well: A sport-altering talent, if you will. However, he hasn't become the player the Jags envisioned, and some of that may be due to how they've used him.

During the draft process, Hunter made it clear that he wouldn't go to a team that limited him to one side of the ball, and Jacksonville made it clear that it would accommodate his request. As expected, the former Colorado Buffalo had a substantial role on offense and defense (but not full-time) before a knee injury brought his rookie campaign to an end.

After spending the offseason recovering from the knee injury, Hunter is back to 100 percent. The expectation was that he was going to pick up where he left off. However, that hasn't been the case two weeks into the 2026 season, and you could make the case that the team's brass isn't truly using him as much as they should.

The Jaguars are limiting Travis Hunter on offense (and defense)

Early in 2026, general manager James Gladstone stated that Travis Hunter would continue to play two ways, but said that he would likely have a bigger role at corner because of expiring contracts (and roster needs). For context, Greg Newsome left in free agency, but Montaric Brown returned on a three-year deal worth $31.5 million.

In two weeks, though, Hunter has appeared on 66 defensive snaps, or 58 percent of the team's totals on that side of the ball. In the loss to the Denver Broncos, he rotated with Jordan Lewis and Jarrian Jones.

Granted, Hunter struggled but he couldn't get into a rhythm because he had to consistently leave the field. Things haven't been much better on offense, as the West Palm Beach, Florida native has logged just 10 offensive snaps (9.0 percent of the team's totals). Simply put, the Jaguars aren't using him nearly enough.

It would be one thing if Hunter weren't getting snaps at receiver because he's playing defense full time, but that's not the case. This begs the question, why isn't he playing more?

Liam Coen told the local media that the Jags are rotating their cornerbacks because has a talented group in Hunter, Brown, Jarrian Jones, and Jourdan Lewis. And he's right that all four are starting-caliber players, but Hunter is the best of the bunch, which is why it's odd he isn't getting more playing time.

On offense, you can understand why Hunter isn't getting more time, though. Jacksonville is stacked at receiver with Brian Thomas Jr., Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers, and rookies Josh Cameron and CJ Williams.

The issue is that the coaching staff is treating Hunter like a luxury or even a gadget player instead of the game-changer he's supposed to be. Why?

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The Jaguars are wasting Travis Hunter

It's possible that the Jaguars don't want to give Travis Hunter a full workload after suffering the MCL injury in 2025, but he doesn't appear to have any lingering issues. Perhaps they're not pleased with how how he far he's in his development. Either way, his dearth of usage is becoming a concern.

Sure, Hunter may get more playing time as the season progresses, but his role doesn't currently match the vision Jacksonville had for him. Keep in mind that this isn't a case of sunk cost fallacy, with the Jaguars having to give him snaps to justify the price to acquire him. Instead, if he's really the difference-maker they said he was, why isn't he getting more playing time?

The good news is that the Jaguars have enough time to fix the issue, and all it requires is just a small tweak: Let Travis Hunter play cornerback full-time and take advantage of his receiver skills on offense more often.

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