Jaguars slammed for Travis Hunter usage after odd display in Week 2, ‘how are they getting value…’

Jaguars Travis Hunter trade looks awful through the first two weeks of the 2025 season

When the Jacksonville Jaguars traded a haul of picks to come up in the 2025 draft and select Travis Hunter, they immediately increased the expectations on the young man’s shoulders.

There was a lot of talk about what Travis Hunter was going to be in the NFL. He played practically every snap both at wide receiver and cornerback through every season of his college career, and won the Heisman trophy for the incredible production he had on both sides of the ball.

Hunter said he would rather retire than be limited to only playing one way in the league, and the Jacksonville Jaguars embraced his desire to do that.

They traded their own first-round pick in 2025 and their first in 2026, plus a second and fourth-round selection in 2025, in exchange for Travis Hunter, a fourth, and a sixth-round pick.

When the Jaguars did that, they immediately announced that Hunter was going to be a two-way player, and that they expected him to have a significant impact on both sides of the ball.

So far this season, they’re not getting anywhere close to first-round value out of the playmaker. He currently has fewer receiving yards than 2023 sixth-round pick Parker Washington, who caught six balls this Sunday against the Bengals for 81 yards.

Hunter is the fifth-most productive pass catcher on the Jaguars’ offense right now, despite the evident struggles of Brian Thomas Jr. in Week 2.

Travis Hunter has caught nine passes, but he’s only totaled 55 receiving yards, while being utilized in a slot role around the line of scrimmage.

The second overall pick has played 62% of his snaps out of the slot on offense, and is then being utilized in a rotational role as a depth cornerback on the defensive side.

Many are struggling to see the vision, including Underdog analyst Hayden Winks.

This week, Winks raised the point on X and said:

“Idk how the Jaguars are getting value on Travis Hunter if they use him like Cole Beasley on offense and as an undersized CB2 on defense. Reps on both sides of the ball where his size is a limiter so far.”

Another fan said:

“Why did they draft Travis Hunter to throw to Parker Washington and dyami brown more than him.”

Somebody else pointed out a budding issue, suggesting perhaps Tetairoa McMillan was the better option;

“Tetairoa McMillan is 10x’s better than Travis Hunter. It’s not even close who’s the better football player here.”

The Jaguars could have drafted McMillan at five, and would have been able to do so without giving up any of the draft capital to get him.

Travis Hunter said he was prepared for the moment on defense, but knows he needs to make more plays

Travis Hunter only played six snaps on defense in Week 1, but that jumped significantly to 43 snaps in Week 2 against the Bengals.

The rookie sensation was only targeted twice, but had a pass breakup downfield on one of those attempts.

When asked about the process of playing both ways this Sunday, Hunter said:

“It was good. I was prepared for the moment, prepared to do my job, and I just gotta make a couple more plays.”

Hunter might be playing on both sides of the ball, but if his impact is minimal on both offense and defense, the value isn’t there in making the selection.

In order for the Jaguars to justify what they spent on Hunter, he needs to be a difference maker on a consistent basis, and he won’t do that by running five-yard routes around the line of scrimmage or acting as a decoy for throws to Dyami Brown and Parker Washington.