Welcome to the NFL highlight reel, Travis Hunter.
While the Jacksonville Jaguars rookie was relatively quiet in his first four games, he turned in multiple highlight plays on a national stage during Monday’s 31-28 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
First, he displayed impressive elusiveness in the open field. Then, he came down with an incredible contested catch on a drive that Trevor Lawrence capped off with a touchdown run.
Social media had plenty of reaction for the rookie, who finished with three catches for 64 yards as a receiver and two tackles and a pass defended as a cornerback:
Hunter is playing on both sides of the ball after winning the Heisman Trophy at Colorado doing just that, so it is reasonable to expect him to not put up video-game like numbers right away. He entered Monday’s contest with 13 catches for 118 yards and zero touchdowns on offense to go with 11 tackles and one pass defended on defense.
The slow start raised some eyebrows, but the Jaguars reportedly weren’t worried.Â
“They’re not that worried about Travis Hunter,” Mike Silver reported during an appearance on the Scoop City podcast 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.”
Monday’s plays made it perfectly clear why Jacksonville wasn’t particularly worried about a relatively slow start. The talent is there, and it is just a matter of time before it shines through on the field.
The Jaguars gave up a 2026 first-round pick, among other draft assets, to move up to No. 2 and take Hunter in the 2025 draft, so they will surely want more consistency from the Colorado product over the course of his career.
For now, though, they are surely pleased with the highlight plays in a win.
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