The Jacksonville Jaguars got steamrolled by the Los Angeles Rams in Week 5. The offense racked up yards but had trouble reaching the opposing defense. The defense wasn't much better. The Jags couldn't defend the deep ball, and the pass rush couldn't bring the heat. To make matters worse, kicker Cam Little missed an attempt, and Parker Washington's would-be touchdown was nullified by a head-scratching penalty.
But as discouraging as the 35-7 loss was, not everything was doom and gloom. One bright spot was Travis Hunter's amazing play at receiver. Rightly, he earned consideration for an illustrious honor in the aftermath.
The Jaguars have a Rookie of the Week nominee in Travis Hunter
After a slow start to his NFL career, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner hauled in eight catches for 108 yards and scored his first receiving touchdown in the pros.
To nobody's surprise, Hunter was nominated for NFL Rookie of the Week honors following his breakout game in Week 7. According to Jaguars PR, he became just the fifth player ever in league history to register over 100 yards, one touchdown, and a pass defensed in a game.
The other four were Randy Moss, Roy Williams, Julio Jones, and Terrell Owens. That's some pretty good company to be with.
Based on how things have unfolded, it's fair to say that the West Palm Beach, Florida native deserves a bigger role at receiver.
The Jaguars must unleash Travis Hunter after the BYE
Travis Hunter's breakout outing came on a day in which the rest of the Jaguars receivers struggled. Jaguars', Liam Coen, for his part, didn't commit to giving him more playing time but noted that it will be something the coaching staff will most definitely consider during the BYE.
"Yeah, I think that is absolutely going to be a part of the conversation this evening with both sides of the football," Coen said when asked if the team will make changes to Hunter's usage. "I thought that there was some definite flashes yesterday in terms. On offense, specifically, he had a great pass breakup as well on defense. And we are going to play the best 11 as much as humanly possible after this BYE."
Coen continued, "We've kind of gotten a sample size, as you mentioned, a sample size of everything, the totality of the first seven weeks of every position. Specifically with him, there were definitely some really good things the other night, specifically on the offensive side of the ball. There's still a lot of things that need to be cleaned up and corrected."
"And then, we've got to just make sure we're playing the best guys at all times and see what that looks like. So that will 100% be a part of this evaluation and conversation over the next few days here."
You could make the case that Hunter didn't get more targets as a receiver early in the season because he was still learning the nuances of the position. Based on his latest performance, it looks like he's taken care of that, so it's time the Jaguars take the training wheels off and unleash him once they return from their BYE week.