Travis Hunter's role with Jaguars: Here's how the team will use the two-way star the rest of the season

Hunter has caught just 10 passes for 76 yards during his first three games

One of the biggest questions heading into the 2025 NFL season was how Jacksonville Jaguars two-way star Travis Hunter would be utilized on both sides of the football. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft has not played more than 68.3% of the snaps on offense or defense for Jacksonville, according to Pro Football Reference, which is a dramatic decrease from his usage at Colorado last season.

The Jaguars have been taking a patient approach to finding a role for one of the most unique draft prospects in recent memory, who can play on both sides of the ball. Even if potential injuries pop up at wide receiver or cornerback, Jaguars head coach Liam Coen doesn't expect his role to change drastically immediately. 

"Right now he's one position on offense and one position on defense," Coen said Wednesday. "Now that doesn't really fully change. It's just the next guy having to go and adjust to go play some 'Z,' which happened in the game. So, I don't think [injuries] change much.

"I don't think it's fair to go say, 'Hey dude, go learn Z and X and 12 and this and that.' We have to make sure he can go execute what we are asking him to do first and foremost, which is to play 'F' and corner."

Travis Hunter's snap percentages this season

Week	Off %	Def %	Tgt	Rec	Yds	Tkl	PBU
1	63.6%	9.4%	8	6	33	1	0
2	59.2%	62.3%	6	3	22	2	1
3	52.9%	68.3%	2	1	21	6	0
Total	59%	47%	16	10	76	9	1

Hunter has caught 10 passes for 76 yards on offense, while recording nine tackles with a pass breakup on defense. His lone catch during Jacksonville's 17-10 win over the Houston Texans in Week 3 was a 21-yard catch -- which marked the longest reception of his young NFL career. 

"I wouldn't say he's behind," Coen said. "I think we can probably do a better job of helping him in some ways. We had a great talk with Trav after this past game, in terms of just man like, all right, 'how can we help you and put you?' Because guys, right, what is he learning? It's a lot. So we've got to, I think, be a little bit more diligent in terms of putting him in positions to maybe not have to do as many moving parts, so that we can just let him go play."

Coen's comments come just days after Hunter's former coach at Colorado, Deion Sanders, said on a recent New Heights podcast episode that the Jaguars weren't "using him enough."

"They're not using him enough," Sanders said. "I've seen it with my own eyes on an everyday basis for three straight years, so I know what he's capable of, and I know how you've got to take care of him. He never practices on Tuesday. He practices on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. He was ready to play a hundred and some snaps on Saturday, so you didn't need to use him on a Tuesday or a Monday. You don't use him like that."

CBS Sports' Jared Dubin certainly agrees with Deion, writing earlier this week that Hunter's usage raises questions about what the Jaguars gave up to draft him. Jacksonville surrendered the Nos. 5, 36 and 126 picks, along with a 2026 first-round selection, to move up three spots to take Hunter. (The team also received the 104th and 200th overall picks in the blockbuster deal.)

Hunter is only three weeks into his career, after all. The Jaguars could just be ramping him up to play more often rather than having him out there for a full complement of snaps right away. And that would probably be a smart thing. You don't want to physically tax him too much right away and have him break down before you even get a chance to use him in the way he should be used. 

But the Jags do need to figure out better ways to get more out of him. The defensive usage makes sense. Hunter was an outside corner in college and he's been used that way in the pros, particularly filling in for the injured Jarrian Jones as the left corner. 

But the offensive usage is not conducive to getting the most out of his skill set, even when you consider that he was rawer as a receiver than as a defensive back coming out of college. You have to be able to stretch the field vertically every so often instead of using him only around the line of scrimmage. Otherwise, defenses are just going to sit on the short stuff and even start taking away some of his run-after-catch opportunities. Considering that's been the only way he's made positive contributions on offense to date, it obviously wouldn't be ideal if that stuff went away.

Hunter and the Jaguars (2-1) face the San Francisco 49ers (3-0) on the road Sunday in Week 4.