Well, I gave y'all what you wanted last week. Following their dominant Week 1 win over the Cleveland Browns, the Jacksonville Jaguars looked like they were finally ready to take the NFL by storm. In response, I heaped as much praise as I could on a squad that was built to compete for years to come if everything went well.
Unfortunately, everything ended up going wrong against the Denver Broncos in Week 2.
We've already covered the full gamut of reasons why Jacksonville couldn't get it done against the Broncos, so it's time to start drilling a bit deeper into our analysis of what went down. Obviously, that means we have to address the hulking elephant in the room, which is Travis Hunter's confusing lack of usage in a game the Jaguars could have won if they were able to shut down one of the Broncos' most explosive weapons.
Travis Hunter, the Jaguars CB, should have been able to win this game
71 percent of the Earth's surface is covered by water. The rest is covered by Travis Hunter.
At one point in time, that's the level of reverence college football fans, pundits, and color commentators had for the two-way superstar who once shocked the world by committing to Jackson State while he was the No. 1 high school prospect in America.
Hunter rewarded our amazement by helping the Tigers win a SWAC Championship as a true freshman. After that, he definitively proved that he was one of the best players in the history of the sport by becoming a unanimous All-American, Heisman Trophy winner, and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year after transferring to Colorado.
I bring all that up to say that it wasn't unreasonable to think that the Jacksonville Jaguars had their CB1 heading into the 2026 season. After all, James Gladstone approached the offseason as if one of the most important roles in modern football was secured after giving Cleveland one of the biggest hauls they've ever seen in their lives.
However, the Jaguars' usage of Hunter thus far has made it seem like he isn't ready to be a shutdown corner after all. In two games, he's only been on the field for 58 percent of the defense's snaps. In those snaps, he hasn't racked up a single interception. In fact, Hunter still hasn't caught the first interception of his career yet.
If Hunter was the CB1 Jax needed, Jaylen Waddle wouldn't have gained 138 receiving yards on only eight catches. If you think I'm just out here selling wolf tickets, Waddle's contributions made up 47 percent of Bo Nix's 288 yards of production through the air. That means corralling the former Miami Dolphin even a little bit could have turned the tide.
Various Jaguars' roster decisions aren't allowing Travis Hunter to sink or swim
Leading up to the 2025 season, Jourdan Lewis was one of James Gladstone's big-ticket additions to a roster in need of immediate production and veteran leadership. He had mostly played nickelback for the Dallas Cowboys, but ended playing on the inside and the boundary for the Jags as the season progressed.
Lewis isn't horrible, but the team also had Tyson Campbell, Jarrian Jones, Montaric Brown, and Travis Hunter as well. As we all know, Campbell ended up getting booted, and Brown ended up getting paid. That means the top end of the cornerback group was still just as crowded at the end of the 2025 season as it was when James Gladstone got started as the franchise's new GM.
One could argue that Hunter should have separated himself from the pack by now, but I hypothesize that the financial realities of pro football are keeping No. 12 from being all that he can be.
This spring, Buster Brown signed a three-year $31.5 million contract right before the official start of free agency, which added another large salary figure to the secondary's payroll. It would be unwise to keep two corners who are earning more than $10 million a year on the bench, which is exactly why the Jaguars' coaching staff had to rotate everyone in as much as they could during the course of a high-pressure game like the one they just played against Denver.
I can see the logic behind such a decision, which is exactly why I'm calling it out right now. No matter how you view things during the offseason, draft picks, roster spots, contracts, and the salary cap are all just resources teams can use to win games on Sundays. Once one of those resources starts taking precedent over the next play in front of you, it's time to re-evaluate what your priorities are.
What are the Jaguars' top priority in the end?
Unfortunately, my last statement could apply to the management of Travis Hunter's snap count. Someone in the organization wants to keep hope alive that the former Colorado Buffalo will grow into a solid wide receiver and an amazing cornerback one day, but it may be time to let that dream go.
Hunter wasn't the one who traded two first-round picks to bring himself to Jacksonville. He also wasn't the one who kept Brian Thomas Jr. after witnessing a busy free-agency period that included a wide array of moves in the wide receiver market.
If the Jags just want to sell tickets and beat up on the NFL's current lineup of bottom feeders, then they don't need to change a thing. However, Travis Hunter's inability to change the game on either side of the ball against Denver should be a wake-up call if they want to compete for an actual championship.
The defending AFC Champions are on the docket this week. We'll see how the Jags respond soon enough.
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