Travis Hunter‘s rookie season ended much earlier than he or the Jaguars hoped. Once the 22-year-old is healthy, though, he will once again be counted on to handle a two-way workload. 
Jacksonville plans to continue using Hunter as a regular at the receiver and cornerback positions, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. The Heisman winner wound up logging 324 snaps on offense and 162 on defense across seven games prior to suffering a knee injury in practice. The damage on that front was limited to an LCL tear, and a six-month recovery timeline is in store.
The Jaguars had planned to increase Hunter’s workload prior to his injury, with a move toward full-time cornerback work being likely. Instead, his attention will turn to recovering from the season-ending surgery which took place earlier this week. Head coach Liam Coen declined to specify what the plan will be for 2026 in terms of usage, although that will of course be influenced by Hunter’s recovery process.
“I understand there’s a lot of questions about if he’ll remain a two-way player and all those kind of things,” Coen said (via ESPN’s Michael DiRocco). “All of that is very premature and at the end of the day, like every player on this roster, he’ll be evaluated at the end of the season and we’ll be able to give him his three better, three best and the things that we need to continue to improve upon and the things we need to build on.”
Jacksonville traded for Jakobi Meyers as a rental receiver addition at the deadline. Especially if he is not retained for next season, Hunter will be relied on to remain a starter at that position along with 2024 first-rounder Brian Thomas Jr. At least a rotational corner role could very well still be in store regardless of how the team proceeds at that spot this offseason.
Upon entering the league – doing so after the Jaguars traded up to the No. 2 slot in the draft for him – questions were raised about Hunter’s ability to remain a two-way player at the NFL level. His injury did not occur during a game, nor was it related to the wear and tear of a full season playing on both sides of the ball. As such, the Jaguars continuing with their previous plan in 2026 would come as little surprise.
never shoulda traded away a ton just to move up 3 spots for him
Yeah, I really like Hunter as a player and prospect, but I’d rather have taken Mason Graham and had next year’s first.
Jags are a QB away from actually competing.
Jax hung 35 on the LA Chargers and you still think they’re not a contender? Ask the Kansas City Chiefs.
Again from google: On November 16, 2025, Trevor Lawrence completed 14 of 22 passes for 153 yards, with two touchdown passes and a 1-yard touchdown run in
If you think 14/22 for 153 yards is good, then ok. I mean you’re a Jets fan after all. That’s your standard.