While Shedeur Sanders draws plenty of attention this offseason, Jacksonville Jaguars star Travis Hunter has his own intriguing storyline. The two-way player enters Year 2 of his NFL career, having already dealt with a season-ending injury in Year 1, which is cause for much concern around the league.
Why Emmanuel Acho Believes Travis Hunter Won’t Hold Up as a 2-Way Star
Hunter was drafted second overall last year, with plenty of excitement around his ability to play both wide receiver and cornerback. Jaguars head coach Liam Coen leaned into the fanfare, using the rookie on both sides of the ball. However, right after his 101-yard, 1-touchdown breakout performance against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 7, the wheels suddenly came off as he went down with a knee injury.
He missed the remainder of the campaign, which raised many red flags among NFL experts. However, Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, who coached Hunter at Colorado, recently doubled down on the fact that Hunter should continue playing both ways.
“They’re not going to ask me,” Sanders said when asked about how the Jaguars should use Hunter. “I thank God that you’re asking me. The kid won the Heisman Trophy playing both sides of the ball. That’s all I’ve got to say on that.”
Former linebacker Emmanuel Acho weighed in on the matter, particularly regarding how Sanders firmly advocates for the youngster to play both ways.
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“I don’t think he has the luxury (to play both ways) because he got hurt last year,” Acho said on “Speakeasy.” “When you’re dealing with a child, you have to earn the right for me to do something. You have to earn the right for me to believe in you in that manner. Well, Travis, we allowed you to play both ways, and, unfortunately, you got hurt.”
Trouble surfaced in late October of last year, when Hunter was limited in practice because of a knee issue. The next day, Coen announced that Hunter would be placed on injured reserve, and the rookie never played another snap.
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“If I’m not mistaken, I don’t think it was a contact injury,” Acho added. “It wasn’t like he got rolled up on. It almost felt like a wear-and-tear injury. I had MCL, MCL, meniscus — I know way too much about knee injuries. What you don’t want to do is start to get rid of the cartilage in Travis Hunter’s knee in his first and second year in the NFL.”
Wide receivers and cornerbacks tend to have 10 good years in the NFL. Playing both ways could very well cut Hunter’s shelf life in half.
“While you can’t necessarily question Deion Sanders based up on his experience, this NFL is different than the NFL Deion played in — No. 1,” Acho added. “No. 2, there are no teams like Kansas (University) in the NFL… I was able to watch Travis Hunter take series off, sometimes take quarters off (in college)… That’s not the NFL, especially not when you’re a DB in the AFC.”
According to PFSN’s WR Impact Metric, Hunter posted an impact score of 68.9 last season, ranking 87th in the league. Unfortunately, due to his injury-plagued season, he was ineligible for PFSN’s CB Impact Metric.
The Jaguars will have to be smart about how they utilize him moving forward. Exhausting him early will give them little return on their massive investment from the 2025 draft.
