ClutchPoints
The hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars front office might be sore from all the high-fives they’ve gotten recently. And there’s no doubt they drafted a special talent. However, here is why Travis Hunter won’t meet expectations with the Jaguars after his standout college career.
Jacksonville traded away its Nos. 5 and 36 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Jaguars also dealt their first-round pick in 2026. For their troubles, they received the much-hyped Hunter. He was considered a top-five talent as both a cornerback and a wide receiver.
But in the NFL, there are no guarantees of success. And Hunter has a couple of things working against him.
He’s 6-foot tall and 188 pounds. Those aren’t bad attributes, but let’s consider his plan. He wants to play on both sides of the football.
OK. Fine. Some of the best receivers in the game played over 1,000 snaps in 2024, according to fantasypros.com. That includes Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Amon-Ra St. Brown. If Hunter is going to be an elite wide receiver, he doesn’t have to play 1,000 snaps, but he can’t pick and choose if he’s a main part of the offensive game plan.
As for playing cornerback, the top end at that position played over 1,100 snaps. That’s guys like Mike Jackson Sr., Jaylon Jones, and Deveon Witherspoon.
Suffice it to say that these guys walked off the field on a given Sunday, tired and bruised. Here’s what Lance Zierlein wrote about Hunter playing both ways in college, according to nfl.com.
“Hunter was playing twice as much as his fellow prospects, and he lacks ideal frame size at both receiver and cornerback,” Zierlein wrote.
So, would the Jaguars put Hunter on the field for 2,100 snaps for the season? Of course not. So the pick-and-choose method would likely come on defense.
But let’s say he’s 900 snaps on offense and 450 on defense. That’s still more snaps than any player in the NFL in 2024. Carolina Panthers safety Xavier Woods totaled 1,218 to lead all players. Woods has a more compact frame at 5-11 and 200 pounds. Plus, he’s a smart eight-year veteran. And he’s delivering the blows, not absorbing them as Hunter will do on offense.
And check out Hunter’s weaknesses, according to nfl.com.
“He’s leggy and loses some ground when transitioning from his pedal, and he needs to prove he can handle the rigors of NFL run support,” Lance Zierlein wrote. “(He) must prove he can compete against higher weight classes. Committed blocks stick to him on the perimeter.”
Also, Hunter brings a playing style to the NFL that might get devoured.
“(His) high-flying playing style leads to heavy contact,” Zierlein wrote.
Also, he lacks something that is a must-have for top-tier wide receivers.
“(Hunter has) average toughness with his run after the catch,” Zierlein wrote.
So here’s a guy coming into the NFL as a rookie with...
