Travis Hunter won’t be the NFL’s Shohei Ohtani after Jaguars’ position change The position switch is understandable, but doesn’t change the fundamental reality facing the Jaguars: Travis Hunter could very well be a bust, and at best they grossly overpaid for a cornerback.
We only got an extremely small sample size of Hunter at corner last season before he suffered a season-ending LCL tear in October, and he was … fine. Targeted 18 times in 101 snaps at cornerback, he allowed nine catches for 106 yards with 29 yards of YAC. Hunter looked much more comfortable playing corner than receiver when it came to the eye test, but the Jaguars tapered off his number of defensive snaps as the season went on, choosing to use him more as a receiver than a defensive back.
The lingering question for the Jaguars coaching staff is whether this focus on Hunter as a receiver was simply due to a sophomore slump from Brian Thomas Jr, or if they didn’t like what they were seeing from the rookie at DB?
There’s no question we need to recalibrate the expectations for Hunter moving forward. The idea of him being a starting corner and slot receiver are gone, now replaced with offensive usage on “obvious passing downs,” which could still see him put up numbers — but more likely means he’ll only see 5-to-7 offensive snaps per game. It also remains to be seen if Hunter can be an offensive asset in this role, or more of a liability — especially if opposing defenses can learn cues about the Jaguars’ passing attack simply by seeing Hunter enter the game.
If the reality is that Hunter is simply the highest-drafted cornerback in NFL history, then there will be a mountain to climb to justify both the No. 2 overall pick, as well as the cost to trade up to get him. While far from a perfect analytic method, Pro Football Focus graded Hunter 73.2 on defense last year, which would have made him the 22nd-ranked cornerback in the league last year. That’s simply not good enough moving forward, and Hunter will need to show Top-10 ability as a DB to make the pick worth it.
The whole conversation around Travis Hunter has now pivoted. Instead of being a generational, Deion Sanders-esque two-way player, we’re now needing to ratchet back in expectations and wonder if he’s trending closer to being a jack of all trades, master of none in the NFL. Offensively last season we saw a receiver who didn’t have the polish to take the top off NFL defenses, and at corner there was a mixed bag of success and failure.
Jacksonville figures to be a very good team in 2026 regardless of what happens with Travis Hunter. It remains to be seen though whether he can be an additive piece, or whether this could result in a massive misstep. There is a simple reality here that the Jaguars spent two picks to get a WR and CB in one player, when they could have sat at No. 5 last year, taken Tetairoa McMillan or Emeka Egbuka at WR, and then used this year’s pick to get a corner — potentially even make the trade for Trent McDuffie that the Rams did, offering better draft picks in the process.
Through that lens it’s impossible to see how the Travis Hunter move was worth it.
#Travis #Hunter #wont #NFLs #Shohei #Ohtani #Jaguars #position #change
The position switch is understandable, but doesn’t change the fundamental reality facing the Jaguars: Travis Hunter could very well be a bust, and at best they grossly overpaid for a cornerback.
We only got an extremely small sample size of Hunter at corner last season before he suffered a season-ending LCL tear in October, and he was … fine. Targeted 18 times in 101 snaps at cornerback, he allowed nine catches for 106 yards with 29 yards of YAC. Hunter looked much more comfortable playing corner than receiver when it came to the eye test, but the Jaguars tapered off his number of defensive snaps as the season went on, choosing to use him more as a receiver than a defensive back.
The lingering question for the Jaguars coaching staff is whether this focus on Hunter as a receiver was simply due to a sophomore slump from Brian Thomas Jr, or if they didn’t like what they were seeing from the rookie at DB?
There’s no question we need to recalibrate the expectations for Hunter moving forward. The idea of him being a starting corner and slot receiver are gone, now replaced with offensive usage on “obvious passing downs,” which could still see him put up numbers — but more likely means he’ll only see 5-to-7 offensive snaps per game. It also remains to be seen if Hunter can be an offensive asset in this role, or more of a liability — especially if opposing defenses can learn cues about the Jaguars’ passing attack simply by seeing Hunter enter the game.
If the reality is that Hunter is simply the highest-drafted cornerback in NFL history, then there will be a mountain to climb to justify both the No. 2 overall pick, as well as the cost to trade up to get him. While far from a perfect analytic method, Pro Football Focus graded Hunter 73.2 on defense last year, which would have made him the 22nd-ranked cornerback in the league last year. That’s simply not good enough moving forward, and Hunter will need to show Top-10 ability as a DB to make the pick worth it.
The whole conversation around Travis Hunter has now pivoted. Instead of being a generational, Deion Sanders-esque two-way player, we’re now needing to ratchet back in expectations and wonder if he’s trending closer to being a jack of all trades, master of none in the NFL. Offensively last season we saw a receiver who didn’t have the polish to take the top off NFL defenses, and at corner there was a mixed bag of success and failure.
Jacksonville figures to be a very good team in 2026 regardless of what happens with Travis Hunter. It remains to be seen though whether he can be an additive piece, or whether this could result in a massive misstep. There is a simple reality here that the Jaguars spent two picks to get a WR and CB in one player, when they could have sat at No. 5 last year, taken Tetairoa McMillan or Emeka Egbuka at WR, and then used this year’s pick to get a corner — potentially even make the trade for Trent McDuffie that the Rams did, offering better draft picks in the process.
Through that lens it’s impossible to see how the Travis Hunter move was worth it.
![IPL 2026: Sanju Samson stakes claim to be CSK’s ‘leading man’ with maiden hundred in yellow jersey Viyarppu thunniyitta kuppayam. Athil nirangal mangukilla kattayam. [Dress spun from sweat; more vivid than any story ever told].The opening lyrics of the song ‘Kuthanthram’ from the 2024 Malayalam classic ‘Manjummel Boys’ left a lasting imprint on people’s minds due to its quirky metaphorical connotation.Indian batter Sanju Samson had referenced the phrase in a social media post after finding a spot back in the playing eleven after being dropped following a disappointing tour of Australia.A lot has transpired in Samson’s life since that game in December 2025. He was dropped from the team again. He was reintegrated again. And then he played three career-defining knocks, one after the other, to guide his nation to a third T20 World Cup triumph.On Saturday, at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, another vivid story was written when a drenched-in-sweat Samson yielded his willow after Chennai Super Kings’ first innings against Delhi Capitals. An unbeaten 115 in front of 30,000 yellow-clad fans at his new amphitheatre was the first real indication of a metamorphosis foreseen by many since the 31-year-old traded his longstanding pink for yellow ahead of the new IPL season.[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yGy2jRz8Jc[/embed]Like most things in his more-than-a-decade-long career so far, this too did not come easy for him. Three consecutive no-shows with the bat, all while being the torchbearer for the side’s new injection of exuberance, almost extinguished the halo of nobility that appeared after his World Cup exploits.The first ball he faced from debutant Auqib Nabi set the tone for the day. You would imagine that a batter who was dismissed thrice in succession by the ball moving away — twice through an outside edge looking to push away from off-stump — would look to ensure there was no movement on offer before playing a similar shot. Not Samson. He prodded his front foot across, in a sign of immense self-confidence, to caress the ball through the covers and pick up three.While his opening partner, Ruturaj Gaikwad, struggled to combine both timing and the art of finding the gap together, Samson delivered a clinic in batting against pace in the PowerPlay, combining composure and direction to give his side a rapid start. Two gorgeous fours over extra-cover against Axar Patel followed, after which the Kerala batter slipped his vehicle into autopilot, the likes of which we saw at the victorious multi-nation tournament.A bothersome back, a dropped catch in the deep, and an unnerving prolonged stint in the 90s later, a fortuitous outside edge of the blade took him to three figures, one that the crowd welcomed with ear-splitting whistles and a standing ovation. The CSK fanbase has long venerated a wicketkeeper-batter to such a degree that he is now considered to be the son of the soil. The unyielding fandom has grown to such an extent that it forces him to return to play in front of the adoring crowd despite his growing years. It can’t go on forever, though. But now, there is a successor in place, and Saturday at the Chepauk was his first step towards staking a claim to be that leading man. Published on Apr 12, 2026 #IPL #Sanju #Samson #stakes #claim #CSKs #leading #man #maiden #yellow #jersey](https://i2.wp.com/ss-i.thgim.com/public/incoming/rfo0xt/article70853376.ece/alternates/LANDSCAPE_1200/image%2013.jpg?ssl=1 "IPL 2026: Sanju Samson stakes claim to be CSK’s ‘leading man’ with maiden hundred in yellow jersey Viyarppu thunniyitta kuppayam. Athil nirangal mangukilla kattayam. [Dress spun from sweat; more vivid than any story ever told].The opening lyrics of the song ‘Kuthanthram’ from the 2024 Malayalam classic ‘Manjummel Boys’ left a lasting imprint on people’s minds due to its quirky metaphorical connotation.Indian batter Sanju Samson had referenced the phrase in a social media post after finding a spot back in the playing eleven after being dropped following a disappointing tour of Australia.A lot has transpired in Samson’s life since that game in December 2025. He was dropped from the team again. He was reintegrated again. And then he played three career-defining knocks, one after the other, to guide his nation to a third T20 World Cup triumph.On Saturday, at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, another vivid story was written when a drenched-in-sweat Samson yielded his willow after Chennai Super Kings’ first innings against Delhi Capitals. An unbeaten 115 in front of 30,000 yellow-clad fans at his new amphitheatre was the first real indication of a metamorphosis foreseen by many since the 31-year-old traded his longstanding pink for yellow ahead of the new IPL season.[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yGy2jRz8Jc[/embed]Like most things in his more-than-a-decade-long career so far, this too did not come easy for him. Three consecutive no-shows with the bat, all while being the torchbearer for the side’s new injection of exuberance, almost extinguished the halo of nobility that appeared after his World Cup exploits.The first ball he faced from debutant Auqib Nabi set the tone for the day. You would imagine that a batter who was dismissed thrice in succession by the ball moving away — twice through an outside edge looking to push away from off-stump — would look to ensure there was no movement on offer before playing a similar shot. Not Samson. He prodded his front foot across, in a sign of immense self-confidence, to caress the ball through the covers and pick up three.While his opening partner, Ruturaj Gaikwad, struggled to combine both timing and the art of finding the gap together, Samson delivered a clinic in batting against pace in the PowerPlay, combining composure and direction to give his side a rapid start. Two gorgeous fours over extra-cover against Axar Patel followed, after which the Kerala batter slipped his vehicle into autopilot, the likes of which we saw at the victorious multi-nation tournament.A bothersome back, a dropped catch in the deep, and an unnerving prolonged stint in the 90s later, a fortuitous outside edge of the blade took him to three figures, one that the crowd welcomed with ear-splitting whistles and a standing ovation. The CSK fanbase has long venerated a wicketkeeper-batter to such a degree that he is now considered to be the son of the soil. The unyielding fandom has grown to such an extent that it forces him to return to play in front of the adoring crowd despite his growing years. It can’t go on forever, though. But now, there is a successor in place, and Saturday at the Chepauk was his first step towards staking a claim to be that leading man. Published on Apr 12, 2026 #IPL #Sanju #Samson #stakes #claim #CSKs #leading #man #maiden #yellow #jersey")
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