Travis Hunter Finally Scores First NFL TD During Jaguars’ Ugly Showing vs. Rams

Travis Hunter's first NFL touchdown came in Week 7.
Travis Hunter's first NFL touchdown came in Week 7. / NFL Networ
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Travis Hunter's talent was well-broadcast entering his rookie season in the NFL, but the big leagues have proven to be a difficult adjustment for the Heisman Trophy winner.

The Jaguars have tried to play Hunter on both offense and defense, like he did at Colorado, after giving up a haul of picks for the right to take him No. 2 in April's NFL draft. But other than a few decent plays Hunter has failed to make much of an impact on either side of the ball. Over the first six weeks of the year Hunter caught 20 passes for 197 yards and recorded two passes defended to match with 15 total tackles. Notably, he did not score a touchdown nor did he intercept a pass during that stretch.

In Week 7, the rookie WR/CB finally scored his first TD, at least.

It did come under less than ideal circumstances. The Jags traveled to London to play the Rams on Sunday and were absolutely terrible throughout the game. Jacksonville failed numerous fourth down attempts in enemy territory and got diced up by Matthew Stafford and Davante Adams. All that led to the Jags getting shut out 28-0 as the fourth quarter began. With nine minutes left in the game the Jaguars had the ball in Rams territory yet again and Trevor Lawrence threw a deep ball to Hunter despite the receiver being surrounded by multiple Rams defenders.

Hunter came down with the catch and ran into the end zone for his first NFL points.

It wasn't the coolest TD and it did not impact the game very much, but still. Good for Hunter.

The Jags were not able to capitalize on the momentum his touchdown garnered and gave up another touchdown to Matthew Stafford and Davante Adams to fall behind 35-7 with five minutes left in the game. Jacksonville will lose its second straight game to drop to 4-3 on the year and enter the bye week with much to think about. Including how Hunter is being used.

At least he's on the board with an NFL touchdown.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.