The Jacksonville Jaguars paid a heavy price to move up to the No. 2 overall pick to select Travis Hunter in the NFL Draft. The former Colorado star finally started to pay off on his team's heavy investment in Jacksonville's dramatic last-minute victory over the Chiefs on Monday Night Football.
Hunter logged four catches against Kansas City for a career high 64 yards on the night. The clear highlight was a 44-yard bomb that he reeled in to set up a third-quarter touchdown for his squad. It was just the sort of performance that Jacksonville's front office envisioned when they rolled the dice on acquiring the versatile star.
There is still a lot of work to be done if Hunter is going to help the Jaguars' bet pay off. At best, he's been the third most productive rookie receiver in this year's class to date. Tetairoa McMillan and Emeka Egbuka have quickly turned into the No. 1 options on the outside for their respective offenses. Hunter has a long way to go before he's ready to assume that mantle for quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Of course, Hunter also gives the Jaguars additional value on the defensive side of the ball. It's worth pointing that he's only playing a shade under 40% of his team's snaps at cornerback. That's still an impressive feat when combined with his offensive workload, but he's not giving Jacksonville's defense anywhere near star level production in the secondary.
Travis Hunter and the Jaguars are coming into their own
Some Jaguars fans might feel that calling Hunter an oddity is unfair after just five games in the NFL. The simple truth is that he's been much more of a curiosity than a star to start the 2025 campaign. There's still plenty of time for him to blossom into that sort of difference-maker for Jacksonville but he needs to show more signs of progress in the coming weeks to start to trend in that direction.
If that doesn't happen, it is easy to envision a scenario in which the Jaguars finally settle on a side of the ball for Hunter's focus. He might profile as a better cornerback prospect relative to his peers, but the Jaguars need a star receiver to unlock their aerial attack. Expect his offensive workload to increase before his defensive snaps start to increase.
At the very least, Jaguar fans can take solace in the fact that Hunter's best game was his last one. There is just a long road ahead for him to live up to his lofty pre-draft billing.