National Pundit Unloads on Critics of Travis Hunter Trade

Listen up, those who doubt Travis Hunter and what Jacksonville gave up to draft him on Thursday night. Kyle Brandt has something to say.

“I don't care what they gave the Cleveland Browns,” Brandt said Friday on Good Morning Football. “I hate draft picks. They're pixie dust; they're lottery scratchers. Most of them amount to nothing; a large majority of them amount to mistakes made. There is no assurance that the Browns are going to nail those draft picks, or that the Jaguars would have if they kept them.”

If they’d kept them, most expected the Jaguars to draft Mason Graham at No. 5 overall. Instead, Graham will begin his NFL career in Cleveland. So will Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins, drafted by the Browns in the second round with the Jaguars’ No. 36 overall selection.

But Brandt appreciated the conviction in James Gladstone and Liam Coen, who knew they had to nail their first draft.

“They came in with a new coach and a new era and said, ‘That's our guy. I'll give you 10 first-round picks. I'm leaving here with Travis Hunter,’” Brandt said. “I respect that, and I like that.”

Respecting and liking Hunter is easy, with his infectious personality and unbelievable abilities. And if those abilities result in the equivalent of a first-round wide receiver and a first-round cornerback, the trade will more than pay for itself in due time.

“Their first-round pick this year is Travis Hunter, the wide receiver,” Brandt said. “Their first-round pick next year is Travis Hunter, the cornerback. They got two players. You can have the pick, Browns. We already picked two guys with one pick. So go ahead and get it. I've seen all the takes. Travis Hunter is a nice player. The Jaguars are crazy. The Jaguars are bold.”

Ultimately, being bold is about changing the overarching trajectory of the franchise. One of four NFL teams without a Super Bowl berth (along with the Browns, Texans and Lions), the Jaguars haven’t strung together consecutive 10-win seasons since 1997-99. They’ve missed the playoffs in 15 of the last 17 years.

“Do you want to sit back and be the Jaguars for the next five years, and eventually Trevor Lawrence kind of didn't work out, and we're 6-11 this year, blah blah, blah,” Brand said Friday. “Break the cycle. Stop. You have to do something really emphatic and maybe even conventionally irresponsible to break the cycle. I think they broke the cycle last night. They got the best player in the draft. I don't give a damn what they paid for it.”