Travis Hunter made a number of incredible plays on his way to the Heisman Trophy last season at Colorado but is yet to do so in the early going of his NFL career.
The Jacksonville Jaguars reportedly aren’t worried about it.
“They’re not that worried about Travis Hunter,” Mike Silver reported during an appearance on the Scoop Citypodcast with Dianna Russini and James Palmer of The Athletic (37:40:00 mark). “I think this will evolve, and in their mind he is unbelievable in the building, very coachable, great energy.”
It needs to be noted that Hunter has played just four NFL games at this point of his career. Any rookie is going to need something of an adjustment period to fully live up to their potential, and he is trying to play wide receiver and cornerback at the sport’s highest level.
That he isn’t dominating yet like he did in college is anything but surprising, and the Jaguars’ reported reaction to his first four games suggests they expected a learning curve as well.
Hunter has 13 catches for 118 yards and zero touchdowns on offense to go with 11 tackles, one pass defended and zero interceptions on defense. The numbers don’t jump off the page, but Silver’s report suggests Jacksonville believes improvement is coming because of his other intangibles.
Eventually, though, the AFC South team will need to see that improvement given how much it gave up to land Hunter.
Jacksonville moved up to the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft by giving up the No. 5 pick, a second-rounder (No. 36), a fourth-rounder (No. 126) and a 2026 first-round pick to the Cleveland Browns, who also sent the Jaguars a fourth-rounder (No. 104) and a sixth-rounder (No. 200).
The additional first-rounder to move up three spots was quite the price to pay, which means there is certainly pressure on Hunter to eventually become a franchise cornerstone for the Jaguars to justify the move.
Yet there is no reason to give up on him just four games into his career.
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