3 Looming Questions Facing Jaguars After Travis Hunter's Season-Ending Surgery

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars will not see Travis Hunter back on the field until 2026, after the franchise announced his season-ending knee surgery on Tuesday.

With the loss of Hunter for the rest of the season, the Jaguars and their decision-makers are now faced with several key questions. Which three are the most looming? We break it down below.

What is Hunter's 2026 role?

travis hunter — Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen looks to the video scoreboard with wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) during the fourth quarter of an NFL football matchup, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The Seahawks defeated the Jaguars 20-12. | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With only seven games of a sample size for Hunter on each side of the ball, there clearly isn't a lot of clarity about his best usage and ideal role. All we have on both sides of the ball are flashes. On offense, we have seen Hunter's explosive skill set after the catch and ball skills downfield. Defensively, we have seen his ability to make plays on the ball and thrive in both man and zone coverages.

But those flashes don't do much in terms of mapping out his future, let alone his 2026 season. How the Jaguars plan to move forward with his development will shape their entire offseason, determining just how much help they need at both wide receiver and cornerback. Whether the Jaguars move forward with the idea of Hunter starting on both sides of the ball after an injury -- when he did not even do that as a rookie -- seems like an increasingly less likely option.

How is the WR room impacted?

The Jaguars have quite a few questions facing the wide receiver room, and Hunter's injury only makes the picture fuzzier. Hunter looked prime to get a larger role on offense, but we will now go into 2026 without knowing if that is a role he can truly undertake. Aside from that, Hunter's injury changes how the Jaguars could have evaluated their current room for next season.

After the Jakobi Meyers trade, the Jaguars could have a top-four receiver unit of Hunter, Meyers, Brian Thomas Jr., and Parker Washington in 2026. But how that group would function together is now a complete and total projection, and the Jaguars will have to figure out how all of the pieces would work together without seeing it on the field.

Will the Jaguars need a CB1?

The Jaguars' cornerback room might have even more questions than the receiver room. As things stand today, the Jaguars have Greg Newsome and Montaric Brown in contract years, while Jarrian Jones has made one start all year and it was at nickel cornerback for an injured Jourdan Lewis. Many thought when the Jaguars traded for Hunter that he would form a strong duo for years with Tyson Campbell, but the Jaguars cutting ties with Campbell after Week 5 put that to bed.

On paper, Hunter should be the Jaguars' clear No. 1 cornerback next year. But Hunter isn't a player whose game is played on paper. The Jaguars will need him badly at receiver in 2026 and beyond, and it is fair to wonder if any part-time defender can ever be a true No. 1 cornerback. The Jaguars have a great cornerback talent in Hunter, but they will likely still need to add to this room and potentially in a big way.

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