3 Things the Jaguars Must Do to Get Travis Hunter More Involved

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars need to figure out how to deploy Travis Hunter, and quickly.

Hunter is technically entering just the 10th game of his NFL career after playing in seven games as a rookie due to his season-ending knee injury, so it is not as if the Jaguars are very deep into the waters when it comes to the Hunter experiment. But through just two weeks in 2026, it is clear the Jaguars need to utilize Hunter more -- no matter how it happens.

So, what can the Jaguars do following their Week 2 loss to get Hunter on the field more? We break it down below.

End His Participation in the CB Rotation

Sep 20, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) playing on defense against the Denver Broncos during the fourth quarter at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If there is one way for the Jaguars to get more out of Hunter, it is to actually make him a full-time player on defense. Hunter ranks third amongst the Jaguars' cornerbacks in snaps played this year and is just barely ahead of Jourdan Lewis, a function of the Jaguars going with a drive-by-drive rotation of Hunter, Jarrian Jones, and Montaric Brown.

“It’s a balance like you said. It’s a balancing act that you're continuously working through," Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said Wednesday. "Almost made the interception early on in the first drive of the game, had a couple things throughout that I think, we can play better and it is a balancing act though. You're trying to get into a flow, whether it's on offense or defense, but we have corners that we have a lot of confidence in. We didn't play our best this past week. I think a lot goes into that, not just those guys specifically. It's on coaching, it's on the rush, it's on those guys in the back end but they're confident to respond this way, and he's a big part of it.”

Has Hunter's play done enough to actually earn him those reps over Brown and Jones? Perhaps not, but Brown has struggled to start the season and the Jaguars need to find out what they have in Hunter sooner rather than later. An easy way to do that is to leave Hunter on the field and have Jones and Brown rotate between each other, or start playing Jones as the primary nickel and bench Lewis. Those are really the only options if Hunter is going to play more.

Give Him Several Offensive Packages a Game

travis hunte — Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) is introduced before an NFL football matchup at EverBank Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Jacksonville, Fla. The Jaguars defeated the Browns 34-10. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

One thing the Jaguars could do is to just work a few Hunter packages into games each week. That is not to say the Jaguars need to force the issue, but it is hard for me to imagine a team that scored 13 points in Week 2 could not have used Hunter to try to generate some type of explosive play on Sunday. Ameer Abdullah and Quintin Morris got touches, so Hunter should too.

The Jaguars had a Hunter package in the first week of the season, but they only deployed it for one drive. It did not look like his offensive snaps had anything purposefully schemed for him against the Broncos, though, and that is one thing the Jaguars and Coen can start doing. It would telegraph things of course, but it is worth trying.

Start Deploying Him in Place of Brian Thomas Jr.

Parker Washington has been by far the Jaguars' best pass-catcher through two weeks, so there is no real reason for him to ever come off the field for Hunter. Jakobi Meyers has not been utilized enough, but he also plays a different role in the Jaguars' offense due to his blocking ability than Hunter would likely be expected to play. That means if Hunter is going to come on the field, then the Jaguars likely need to do it at the expensive of Brian Thomas Jr.

Thomas has been the Jaguars' second-most targeted receiver this year, but he struggled enough against the Broncos to likely warrant Hunter taking a drive or two from him now and then. Hunter is better as an outside receiver who can win with the ball in the air than he is at anything else on offense, and he could help the Jaguars here.

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