Jaguars cornerback and wide receiver Travis Hunter’s rookie season was unfortunately cut short after he underwent surgery to repair a LCL injury in his right knee. Hunter was placed on injured reserve toward the end of last month after sustaining the knee injury in practice, and will now miss the remainder of the 2025 campaign.
Coming out of Colorado, Hunter set out to become the first player to play on both sides of the football full-time since the early 1960s. While he did not play offense and defense on a full-time basis during his rookie year, he did successfully see significant time on both sides of the ball.
With his rookie year in the books, let’s look back at how Hunter performed in his first NFL action.
Offensive stats: Played 67% of the snaps. Caught 28 passes on 45 targets for 298 yards and a touchdown over seven games.
Offensively, Hunter’s numbers are not impressive and he has room to improve as a route runner. When targeted accurately though, Hunter did a nice job with the opportunities he received. On short passes, Hunter showcased his elusiveness and shifty movement, often escaping at least a tackler or two to gain yards after the catch. He most frequently played in the slot, doing so on 64.7% of his offensive snaps.
Hunter began seeing some more targets downfield as the season went on and impressively hauled in some tough catches. For a Jaguars receiving core that has struggled with drops this season, he displayed pretty reliable hands.
What a catch by Travis Hunter for 28 yards!
JAXvsSF on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXnxV pic.twitter.com/5uLmQhBQlr
— NFL (@NFL) September 28, 2025
Trevor Lawrence hits Travis Hunter for a massive gain 🔥 Jaguars instantly in the red zone#Jaguars #KCvsJAX #NFL #AggregateSports pic.twitter.com/nZ6j3DrV8B
— Aggregate Sports (@AggregateSports) October 7, 2025
The timing of Hunter’s injury was especially unfortunate because he was coming off his best game of the season—catching eight passes for 101 yards and his first touchdown against the Rams—and appeared to be gaining a larger role in the offense. That will now have to wait until next season.
TRAVIS HUNTER FIRST CAREER TOUCHDOWN ‼️
LARvsJAX on @nflnetwork
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/Sta2sLUZ7h
— NFL (@NFL) October 19, 2025
Defensive stats: Played 36% of the snaps. Targeted 18 times in coverage and allowed nine catches. Credited with three pass breakups and 15 total tackles.
Defensively, Hunter allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete 50% of their attempted passes toward him for a passer rating of just 68.3. He gave up nine receptions for 106 yards and no touchdowns in seven games. Pro Football Focus gave Hunter a 72.7 grade for his work in coverage this season, including a season-high 83.6 coverage grade in his final appearance of the year against the Rams.
Hunter notably had good snaps in coverage against stellar pass-catchers like Travis Kelce, Davante Adams and Nico Collins. He recorded three overall pass breakups on the season, including an impressive one on Adams.
Travis Hunter's PBU on Davante Adams was a great example of rush and coverage working together. Hines-Allen gets 1 of his 3 QBH and impacts the throw and Hunter finishes the play pic.twitter.com/7O1y7PQi1C
— John Shipley (@_John_Shipley) October 20, 2025
Travis Hunter PBU 🚨
JAXvsCIN on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/ImLMtFNbkw
— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025
When given opportunities, Hunter showed he could play well on both sides of the ball. If anything, the concerns about him playing two ways should not be about if he can do it, but the Jaguars’ usage of him and if he can stay healthy. Hunter missed time in each of his first two college seasons and will now miss the majority of his rookie campaign.
The Jaguars invested heavily to acquire the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner, trading two first-round picks, a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick to move from No. 5 to No. 2 in the draft and select Hunter. To pick a player determined to continue playing both ways, the Jaguars did come in with a specific plan for Hunter to practice and get up to NFL speed at cornerback and wide receiver.
Earlier this season, head coach Liam Coen said that Hunter is playing just one position at both receiver (F) and cornerback this season, via Mia O’Brien. While the Jaguars were having Hunter focus on one spot at each position and appeared to be ramping up his work on offense, they definitely could have made a greater effort to get him the ball more. He did well at gaining yardage and first downs on screens and short passes. Throwing a couple more of those to him would have been an easy way to get him the football more to take advantage of his playmaking ability.
Getting Hunter healthy will be the Jaguars’ primary priority for him this offseason. After that, Jacksonville simply needs to utilize him more, whether that’s giving him more snaps next season or finding more easy completions and ways to get him the ball. The Jaguars gave up major draft capital to select him, but their usage of him has not reflected that.
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