The Jacksonville Jaguars drafted star dual-threat athlete Travis Hunter in hopes that he would make a significant impact on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. However, in the team’s Week 7 game against the Los Angeles Rams their usage of Hunter has come under fire after experiencing some significant struggles on defense.
In the first half of Sunday’s game, the Rams’ offense moved the ball at will. Three of the five Los Angeles offensive possessions in the first half resulted in touchdowns.
This success on offense for the Rams came as Hunter sat on the sideline on defense, seeing zero defensive snaps throughout the first half.
As a result of Hunter’s lack of defensive snaps, the Jaguars were subjected to a significant amount of criticism on the NFL Network halftime show. In particular, former Pro Bowl defensive lineman Gerald McCoy made it clear that he believes Hunter should have been far more involved on defense early in the game.
“Before the game, I said that Travis Hunter should play more on the defensive side of the ball,” said McCoy. “He currently has no defensive snaps. Matthew Stafford has three passing touchdowns. The Jacksonville Jaguars secondary, four penalties. You draft a guy that has generational talent on both sides of the ball. Maybe you should use it on the side you are getting killed on.”
It’s hard to argue with McCoy’s comments here when you consider just how efficient the Rams were on offense through the first two quarters.
In the third quarter, the Jaguars finally began to utilize Hunter on the defensive side of the ball, which instantly yielded results. Hunter made a pass break-up on a deep pass attempt on third down to Davante Adams that would have set the Rams up deep in Jacksonville territory.
The blessing that comes with Hunter’s skill set on both sides of the ball is that the Jaguars have plenty of flexibility in how they utilize him.
As Hunter gets more familiar with both sides of the ball at the NFL level, the Jaguars will likely get better at utilizing him equally. However, at least this week, it sure seems like Jacksonville may not be fully comfortable with him logging a significant workload on both sides of the ball, which seems to have cost them in a major way on defense.
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