Jacksonville Jaguars rookie Travis Hunter largely under-exceeded the lofty expectations placed on him in his first year in the league. According to Jaguars head coach Liam Coen, this could potentially result in the organization changing how Hunter is utilized in 2026.
Hunter’s unique ability to play both wide receiver and cornerback at an elite level collegiately had many calling him one of the best prospects in recent memory coming out of the 2025 NFL Draft. However, others questioned whether his body would be able to hold up to the punishment of professional football, playing both sides of the ball.
There was unfortunately a short-term answer to that question, as Hunter is set to miss the remainder of the 2025 season after undergoing surgery on Tuesday to repair a non-contact knee injury suffered in practice last month.
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Speaking about Hunter’s injury on Wednesday, Coen hinted at the possibility of potentially ending the former No. 2 overall pick’s time as a two-way player in the future. Though Coen did say that he hasn’t yet made a determination on whether that will happen or not at this point.
“I understand there’s a lot of questions about if he’ll remain a two-way player and all those kind of things,” said Coen, 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.”
The fact that Coen is even insinuating that this possibility could be on the table certainly doesn’t bode well for those who want to see Hunter be able to use all of his skills on a weekly basis.
Notably, the Jaguars clearly viewed Hunter’s skills as more impactful as an offensive player this year, seeing 67 percent of the team’s offensive snaps compared to just 36 percent of their defensive snaps. So if a decision is made to limit Hunter to one side of the ball, it sure seems likely that he would be giving up his cornerback duties.
It’s hard to fault Coen for at least laying out this possibility. After all, a two-way player like Hunter is only impactful on both sides if he remains healthy. So it will be interesting if anything does indeed change for the former Heisman Trophy winner in his sophomore season in the NFL.
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