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The Jacksonville Jaguars lost their most important piece before he could even finish one season. Travis Hunter will miss the remainder of the year with a knee injury.
Of course, that prompted even more doubts about his usage going forward. Injury prevention was one of the many reasons why playing him on both sides of the field wasn’t a good idea.
However, they’re not going to change their approach to their first-round pick. According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the Jaguars will continue to play him in the same way next season:
“Sources say Jacksonville does, in fact, plan to continue to deploy Hunter as their top wide receiver and matchup cornerback moving forward. In fact, prior to Hunter’s non-contact injury during practice on Oct. 30, he was ramping up to be used more, not less,” Rapoport wrote.
This isn’t much of a surprise, unfortunately. Jaguars GM James Gladstone looked to make a statement by getting him as his first big move as the main guy calling the shots, and after all the Jaguars gave up to get him, they will look to make the most of that investment.
Even so, that might not be in his best interests. Hunter was an average wide receiver at best, and he was way below-average on the defensive side of the field.
Perhaps it would be better for him to master one thing before trying the other. It’s not that he doesn’t have the skills to be elite at both positions, but he didn’t make an impact at either.
Now, the Jaguars’ underwhelming wide receiver corps will be even more undermanned. And to add insult to injury, they still don’t have the shutdown cornerback they thought they would have with the Colorado product.
NEXT: Jaguars Make Big Roster Decision With Veteran Defender
