The Jacksonville Jaguars were emphatic in the offseason that cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter was going to play on both sides of the ball in 2026. The Jaguars have followed through on that, making the 2025 No. 2 overall pick a starter on defense and mixing him in where designed on offense.
He has started every game at cornerback and has played at least four snaps on offense in all but one game (Week 4 at Cincinnati). He has made big plays on both sides of the ball and had the best game of his career in Week 6, when he clearly showed what kind of threat he can be. Head coach Liam Coen has been consistent in saying that Hunter's offensive usage is fluid.
"You want to continue to do what we think is going to give us the best chance at winning throughout the course of the week," he said. "And so, if that's Travis getting more touches, then absolutely will."
How has Hunter's usage evolved this season? Each week we'll track his stats and evaluate the impact he had on the game.
Week 9 at Baltimore Ravens
It was a quiet night for Hunter on defense -- five tackles on 44 snaps -- but a bad one on offense. Hunter played six snaps on offense and fumbled the only time he touched the ball. Hunter caught a receiver screen from Trevor Lawrence, and Ravens safety Malaki Starks knocked the ball loose 1 yard behind the line of scrimmage. Linebacker Teddye Buchanan recovered the ball at midfield, and the Ravens took over with 5:10 to play in the third quarter with the Jaguars ahead 20-3.
The turnover didn't hurt the Jaguars, though, because the Ravens then turned the ball over on downs four plays later, with tight end Mark Andrews fumbling the snap on fourth-and-1. Hunter was officially credited with one catch for minus-1 yard.
Week 8 vs. Indianapolis Colts
Coming off a Week 7 bye week, it was a relatively quiet day from Hunter -- in terms of stats, anyway. Hunter played 49 of the 60 total snaps on defense tallying four tackles. He played six snaps on offense with one rush for 5 yards and no catches on one target. A new wrinkle this week is that he played a season-high four snaps on special teams -- returning a punt for 1 yard and securing a fair catch on another.
Week 6 vs. Houston Texans in London
Hunter had the best game of his career against the Texans at Wembley Stadium, catching four passes for 59 yards and a touchdown and also intercepting C.J. Stroud in the end zone. He's just the fourth player since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger with a receiving touchdown and interception in the same game and the first to do it since Philadelphia's Brian Dawkins in 2002. The touchdown and interception came on consecutive drives.
Per NFL Next Gen Stats, Hunter had 34 coverage snaps and limited the Texans to two catches on five targets. However, he also was hit with a questionable pass interference penalty in the end zone against Nico Collins that gave the Texans the ball at the 1-yard line late in the first half. Despite that, this was the first time Hunter has made a significant impact on both sides of the ball -- 58 snaps on defense and 9 on offense (season high) -- in the same game in his 13 career games.
Week 5 vs. Philadelphia Eagles in London
Hunter played every defensive snap (59) for the second week in a row and had six tackles (second-most on the team) and a pass breakup. He was penalized for defensive pass interference that wiped out a third-and-17 incompletion in the second quarter. It gave the Eagles the ball at the Jaguars' 3-yard line and Philadelphia running back Will Shipley scored two plays later.
On offense, Hunter played five snaps and touched the ball for the first time since Week 1, catching a 9-yard pass on second-and-7 from the Jaguars' 40-yard line. Parker Washington scored on a 51-yard catch-and-run on the next play.
Week 4 at Cincinnati Bengals
Hunter played every defensive snap (71) in a 22-17 win against the Bengals and had four tackles and two pass breakups. It's the first time in his career he's played every defensive snap and it was necessary because the Jaguars were down cornerbacks Montaric Brown (hamstring) and Christian Braswell (knee) because of injury.
"He played his ass off today," head coach Liam Coen said.
Hunter, however, called his play "decent" and was disappointed that his interception got erased by a roughing the passer penalty on defensive tackle Arik Armstead.
"I like to criticize myself a lot harder," Hunter said. "My wife does, too. I still give up a catch today, so she's going to be on me about that when I get home."
Hunter didn't play at all on offense, the first time in his career that has happened. Coen said he didn't want to risk him getting hurt on that side of the ball because that would leave them down three cornerbacks. Hunter said he wasn't mad at that decision.
Week 3 vs. New England Patriots
In a 35-6 win against the Patriots, Hunter saw an increase in snaps with 42 on defense (70%) and a decrease on offense with four snaps (6.7% of all offensive snaps). He recorded four tackles and his first career interception, picking off New England quarterback Drake Maye in the back of the end zone late in the first half to preserve the Jaguars' 14-3 lead. Maye was trying to hit receiver Efton Chism III on third-and-goal from the 2-yard line, but Hunter out-jumped Chism for the ball. Hunter didn't touch the ball on offense for the second consecutive game, leaving him with only two touches so far this season.
Week 2 at Denver Broncos
Hunter played 43 total snaps in the loss against the Broncos: 35 on defense (59.3% of all defensive snaps), seven on offense (12.7% of all offensive snaps) and one on special teams. He had one pass breakup and four tackles, and he was penalized for pass interference on a Bo Nix sideline pass to receiver Courtland Sutton. The 22-yard penalty -- plus Coen's unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing the call -- gave the Broncos the ball at the Jaguars' 3-yard line. The Broncos scored what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown on the next play. Hunter was not targeted on offense.
After Week 2, Coen explained that his cornerbacks are handling drives with a planned rotation -- which is why Hunter was in for only 59.3% of defensive plays.
"We did it for the most part of the last season as well, before Travis got hurt," Coen said. "It's something that we got to continue to do. We have corners that we have confidence in. Those guys can all make plays for us. They can all communicate for us. They've been in the system now.
"But yeah, it's a rotation. Pre-game, we have it all laid out. The players know it. They all know the rotation. It's been clearly laid out to them what the expectations and standards are."
Week 1 vs. Cleveland Browns
Hunter started at cornerback and played 27 snaps on defense (55.1% of total defensive snaps) and four on offense (7.1% of total offensive snaps) against the Browns. On offense, he had one carry for 3 yards on a jet sweep and one catch for 8 yards on a screen pass. He has had at least one catch in every game in which he played (eight games) to this point. On defense, Hunter was targeted once on defense which resulted in a Deshaun Watson completed a 4-yard pass to KC Concepcion.