Travis

Hunter

Per Wolfe, the Jaguars believe Hunter can be an “elite” cornerback, while still being “an impact player” on offense. For fantasy purposes, this is unfortunate. Hunter may be stuck rotating in as a contributor in three-wide receiver sets, which would make him frustratingly unreliable, though head coach Liam Coen will likely try to scheme up ways to get the ball in his hands. On the plus side, Wolfe said Hunter will be “full-go” by Week 1. The Jaguars are reportedly expected to let one of their free agent cornerbacks, Montaric Brown or Greg Newsome, walk in free agency.

Coen adds that Hunter was “bouncing around” the weight room the other day, celebrating the young player’s mental resilience as he recovers from a torn LCL. Coen also echoed general manager James Gladstone’s recent messaging regarding Hunter’s 2026 usage, indicating that the team’s positional needs will, at least partially, influence their decision-making regarding Hunter’s deployment. The coaching staff will remain “fluid” in assessing his offensive and defensive practice schedule this offseason. Whether Hunter takes on a fantasy-relevant role next season is currently unknown.

This would, obviously, be bad for his fantasy football value. Whether it’s the right move or not for the Jaguars is open to interpretation. It looked like Hunter had just started to scratch the surface of his talent before his season-ending knee injury. But with Jakobi Meyers, Parker Washington, and Brian Thomas Jr. seemingly locked in as the team’s three main receivers, this role makes a lot of sense for how things currently stand in Jacksonville. Hunter’s status as an offensive player will be something we spend a lot of time monitoring this offseason, but if he only has a package of plays, it’d be hard to endorse him as more than a WR4/WR5 flier in redraft leagues.

The team seems intent on continuing the Hunter experiment, in which he plays cornerback and wide receiver. Hunter, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in November, wasn’t particularly effective as a wideout in 2025, but will get another shot in 2026 assuming he’s fully recovered from his knee injury. Hunter had 28 receptions for 298 yards and a touchdown over seven games this year. He could be the second or third pass-catching option for the Jaguars in 2026.

Rapoport specifically called him a No. 1 receiver when referring to how the Jags see him. Hunter is currently on injured reserve with a season-ending LCL tear. He is expected to be ready for the start of the offseason program in 2026. Hunter looked like he was turning the corner as a wideout just before suffering the knee injury in practice. That, of course, sparked questions about whether he will continue playing on both sides of the ball. For now, that appears to be the plan. Hunter will be one of the most fiercely debated players in fantasy circles heading into his second season.

Hunter is going to be ready for full football activities in six months, so he should be fully ready for training camp. What to make of this rookie year? It was a year of waiting for something to launch. There were no touchdowns until (what would become) his final game of the season, where the Jaguars forced balls to him with aplomb in garbage time against the Rams. The target rate was there, and then it wasn’t, and then it was again. The two major elephants in the room for him this offseason will be what happens (or doesn’t) with Brian Thomas Jr., and whether or not he’ll continue to be a two-way player following the injury. We expect the status quo to rule this situation — mostly because of what the Jags invested in Hunter and Thomas — and for Hunter to roll into the 2026 season as WR3 in fantasy drafts.

This echoes The Athletic’s reporting that Hunter, who injured his knee last week during a practice session, avoided “long term damage” to his knee. Hunter will miss at least the next three weeks and possibly more if the Jaguars want to be careful with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Jaguars could also be without Brian Thomas, who sustained an ankle injury during the team’s Week 9 win against the Raiders. Jacksonville on Tuesday acquired Jakobi Meyers from the Raiders. Meyers could immediately see significant playing time if Hunter and Thomas are sidelined.

Hunter suffered a non-contact knee injury in practice on Thursday. The good news is that both Silver and ESPN’s Adam Schefter have made optimistic reports on Hunter’s outlook. Per Schefter, Hunter’s ACL is intact. The bad news, on the other hand, is that the Jags immediately placed the No. 2 overall pick on injured reserve and we still don’t have concrete details on the nature of the injury. Hunter will miss at least four games while on IR, though we suspect he will be out much longer than a month. As Silver notes, the Jags will not rush him back, meaning Brian Thomas Jr. will continue to operate as the team’s No. 1 wideout for a while, possibly the remainder of the regular season.

Hunter was placed on IR earlier on Friday and will miss at least the next four weeks. Additional testing will occur over the weekend to figure out the true extent of the problem. It’s possible that Hunter returns this season, but we simply have no idea at this point how serious the injury is. Removing the torn ACL from the equation is a good start when we consider non-contact knee injuries, but it’s not exactly the end of the gloomy scenarios.

Less than 24 hours after learning that Hunter suffered a knee injury in Thursday’s practice, the two-way player will now miss a minimum of four games because of said injury. According to Coen, the Jaguars are “currently assessing” the knee injury, which was of the non-contact variety, and the team still hasn’t determined how long Hunter’s absence could be. The rookie won’t be eligible to return until Week 13 at the earliest and now leaves the Jaguars short on both sides of the ball. The rookie has played on 323 offensive snaps per PFF compared to just 162 defensive snaps, and has seen 209 of his offensive snaps come from the slot. His absence should result in an expanded role for Parker Washington, who enters Week 9 averaging 4.7 targets per game, but could also be supplemented by Dyami Brown (shoulder) who was a full participant in Thursday’s practice. Both players make for interesting stashes heading into a generous Week 9 matchup against the Raiders but shouldn’t be viewed as anything more than WR4/WR5s in fantasy leagues.