JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, facing a third-and-15 from his own 6-yard line, did not want the checkdown.
Instead, he looked for rookie Travis Hunter in the middle of the field. The pass was high, but Hunter jumped and snagged it -- with San Francisco 49ers safety Marques Sigle on his back.
The 28-yard gain, in addition to earning a first down and sparking the Jaguars' second touchdown drive in a 26-21 Week 4 road victory, was the longest play in Hunter's monthlong NFL career.
"Travis set a great angle for me to throw it and made a great play on the ball," Lawrence said. "The safety came back in and tried to break it up, and it's a great catch by Travis."
It was the first "wow" play from the reigning Heisman Trophy winner who is known for playing on offense as a receiver and on defense as a cornerback.
The Jaguars traded four picks to move up to No. 2 overall to draft Hunter in April. They wanted the same kind of big plays he made for Colorado in 2024, when he caught 96 passes for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns -- while also tallying 11 pass breakups, four interceptions and 36 tackles.
So far, though, Hunter has yet to reach that level. He ranked seventh among rookies in receiving yards per game (29.5), with zero touchdowns and one pass breakup entering Sunday.
Hunter has played 58% of the Jaguars' offensive snaps and 38% of the defensive snaps leading into Monday's matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN), according to ESPN Research. He's the fourth player since 2007 to play 100-plus offensive and defensive snaps combined in the same season.
However, some, such as Hunter's college coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, are questioning whether the Jaguars are using Hunter effectively, especially on offense. And others, such as former NFL defensive back and current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark, are wondering if the Jaguars are asking too much of Hunter to learn both positions.
But no matter what the critics are saying, Hunter's coaches are being careful about his workload and are noting the concerns, but at the same time are confident in their ever-evolving approach.
"There's absolutely a push-and-pull of saying, 'What's too much? What's enough?'" Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski said. "Because we want to try to maximize, and at the same time optimize, his time on the field.
"We're always exploring what's the best way we can get him on the field and let him go play fast, go play free without detracting from all the other things he has to do."
EXPECTATIONS FOR HUNTER entering the season were high, especially after Jaguars general manager James Gladstone called the 22-year-old someone who could "alter the trajectory of the sport."
Through four weeks, however, the stats don't show much of an impact: 13 catches for 118 yards and 11 tackles and one pass breakup.
Lawrence has targeted Hunter the third most (21) among Jaguars receivers, behind receiver Brian Thomas Jr. and tight end Brenton Strange. Hunter is averaging 2.38 yards after the catch, which is the seventh best among 79 qualifying receivers. His team-best 3.13 yards of separation between himself and the defender is 30th among those 79 receivers -- ahead of players such as Puka Nacua, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Tee Higgins, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
"I don't know much about his defensive role or playtime. Offensively, he is in the mix for sure," said one veteran NFL coach whose team plays the Jaguars in the early part of the schedule. "They are trying to find ways to get him the ball but not forcing it to him. He appears to be best on underneath option routes and situations where they can get him in space. A bit limited in terms of his overall route tree."
On defense, Hunter has allowed eight receptions for 89 yards on nine targets, with 44 of his 68 coverage snaps coming in zone defense, per NFL Next Gen Stats.
"I'm just doing exactly what my team [has] asked me to do," Hunter said. When asked what he thinks he has done well, he responded: "Just being a teammate."
There have been flashes of the elite ball skills and big-play ability he showed in college on both sides of the ball.
In addition to the 28-yard catch against the 49ers, Hunter had a 21-yard catch-and-run the week before against the Houston Texans on a first-and-20 play from the Jaguars' own 23-yard line in the third quarter. That helped extend a drive that ended with a field goal in their 17-10 Week 3 victory.
Against the Carolina Panthers in Week 1, Hunter got behind the coverage for a potential touchdown, but Lawrence's pass was intercepted by Jaycee Horn. Horn matched up with Hunter a few times in the opener and said he was impressed.
"He's a good player. He makes plays," Horn said of Hunter. "He's got good instincts, got a good feel on both sides of the ball.
"... It's a tough job to do both, but I think he can do it."
Hunter has learned one receiver position -- what they call the F, or slot -- and has worked only as an outside cornerback and is on the field when the Jaguars are in nickel (with Jourdan Lewis sliding to nickel when that happens).
Head coach Liam Coen said the plan is for Hunter to play only those spots as a rookie.
It looked like Hunter's defensive workload was gradually increasing when he played 80 snaps combined in Weeks 2 and 3 after playing only six in the season opener, but he played just nine defensive snaps in Week 4 against San Francisco -- all of which came in the first quarter.
However, it wasn't because he made a mistake in coverage on a third-down catch by Ricky Pearsall on the final play of the first quarter. Coen said Hunter dinged his shoulder on a tackle and the Jaguars opted to use him only on offense the rest of the game because of the return of cornerback Montaric Brown. Brown had been the team's No. 3 corner behind Tyson Campbell and Lewis in training camp before getting hurt.
Hunter has had moments in the first four games when he wasn't sure where he was supposed to line up and a few instances of going in motion late or not being set. It's not at a concerning level, Coen said, but it's something that must be fixed.
"I wouldn't say he's behind," Coen said. "We can probably do a better job of helping him in some ways. We had a great talk with Trav after [the Houston game] in terms of just, 'All right, how can we help you?' ... We've got to, I think, be a little bit more diligent in terms of putting him in positions to maybe not have to do as many moving parts so that we can just let him go play."
Lewis, an eight-year veteran, has been impressed with how Hunter is handling meetings, learning two game plans each, and the physical demands of practicing and playing on both sides of the ball.
"It doesn't look like it's bothering him at all," Lewis said. "... There's some things that of course he needs to get better at, but I feel like he's making some plays for us that's kept us in some games like that big play on third-down-and-long [against the 49ers]. That was probably one of the defining moments in the game that helped us.
"He's still a playmaker and he's getting it done for us and that's all we can ask for."
Field Yates, Daniel Dopp and Stephania Bell discuss Brenton Strange's elevated role in the Jaguars' offense after Week 4.
WHAT HUNTER IS doing is rare -- there is no set formula to follow.
He is one of only four players over the past 25 years to play 15 offensive and defensive snaps in the same game, according to ESPN Research.
Los Angeles Chargers fullback/defensive lineman Scott Matlock did it in 2024, New England receiver/defensive back Julian Edelman did it in 2011, and Cleveland receiver/safety Mike Furrey did it in 2009. Hunter has done it twice: Weeks 2-3 against the Cincinnati Bengals and Houston Texans.
To find a more accurate example of what the Jaguars want from Hunter means going back 44 years to 1981, when Roy Green had 708 yards and four touchdowns receiving and three interceptions as a safety for the St. Louis Cardinals.
One thing all the above players have in common: They weren't rookies when they played significant roles on both sides of the ball. Matlock did it in his second NFL season. Edelman and Green did it in their third seasons and Furrey in his seventh.
Furrey doesn't believe the Jaguars are asking too much out of Hunter as a rookie because he's doing things that he did in college, especially in terms of coverages.
"Understanding formations and movements and shifts and motions and concepts and adjustments ... there's a lot that goes into playing wide receiver in the National Football League," said Furrey, who is in his second season as the receivers coach at South Carolina. "The one thing about playing wideout is if you don't know what you're doing ... you'll never play as fast as you're capable of playing.
"You have to be a student of the game. ... You have to be able to react because of what you've learned, so yes, I would say it's definitely the right idea to get him going in the offense [first]."
Hunter's success playing both sides in college is why Furrey believes Hunter can do it at a high level with a high snap count.
"[Football] is all you do [in the NFL], so that's why it was impressive that he did it in college," Furrey said. "... From an offensive standpoint, conceptually you're going to do a lot of things similar week-to-week. You might change formations, you might motion to it, things like that so that's not real mentally taxing ... It's the same thing on the defensive side. You've got Cover 4, you've got Cover 2, there's only so many coverages."
On the other side, Sanders, Hunter's coach at Jackson State and Colorado, said on a recent episode of Jason and Travis Kelce's "New Heights" podcast that he doesn't like the way the Jaguars are using Hunter.
"They're not using him enough. I seen it with my own eyes, [on an] every-day basis for three straight years," said Sanders, who had 36 receptions for 475 yards as an All-Pro cornerback/receiver for the Cowboys in 1996. "So, I know what he's capable of and how you got to take care of him. He never practiced on Tuesdays. Practice him Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and he's ready for hundreds of snaps on Saturday."
The Jaguars are monitoring Hunter's weekly workload with regular meetings with director of performance science Chris Bach, assistant to the head coach Jay Kaiser, and others about Hunter's schedule. Coen stresses flexibility in their approach.
"It's just something that we definitely need to make sure we're constantly evaluating and being able to tweak, if necessary," Coen said.
As far as Hunter not being used enough, Sanders has an ally in Roy Green.
"You've already determined that he's the best athlete that came in the draft. OK, so let's go and find out as many opportunities to give him an opportunity to touch this football," Green said. "I don't care if it's a punt returner, I don't care if it's a kick returner. ... You've got to give him the ball."
Hunter being a rookie doesn't matter, Green said. He's had plenty of time to learn the offense and defense, and to learn multiple receiver positions, too.
"This is the NFL, right?" Green said with a laugh.
A coordinator whose team recently played the Jaguars and who has prepped for Hunter said it's premature to make a judgment on how the Jaguars should use Hunter.
"He's young. Too early for everyone to truly know what's best for him," the second veteran coach said. "But they'll definitely figure it out. Anyone who thinks they know has no idea. Got to trust that they'll figure it out as they learn each other."
WHEN THE JAGUARS face the Chiefs on Monday night, quarterback Patrick Mahomes will keep an eye on Hunter.
"He was a super-talented player in college and it was fun to watch him at Colorado make plays happen," Mahomes said. "Coming into the draft process, I always watch those receivers, so he's special when he gets the ball in his hands and being able to break tackles and make guys miss.
"Seeing him play defense now, he's doing a great job in this scheme and being around the ball. He's a special player and someone we'll have to account for when he's out there on the field."
As far as how many snaps Hunter will see against the Chiefs, only the Jaguars know.
Coen has been consistent in saying that Hunter's game-day workload is a fluid situation and potentially fluctuating weekly depending on the opponent, the game plan, his health, injuries, and what happens during the game. There could be weeks where he plays 80-plus snaps and others where he's in the 50s or 60s.
A lower snap count isn't an automatic indication that the Jaguars are unhappy with him or the way he's playing.
"He had the 80 [against Cincinnati] and saying, 'OK, that's probably a pretty good start,'" Coen said. "We hit that number early in the season and now it's like is that something that we want to probably strive to be around right now? Probably, I'd say so. We haven't necessarily said if there's a number that he can't go to yet.
"So, whether that occurs and goes over that number this week, who knows? But I think we're just going to be open to seeing where it goes."
What the Jaguars and Hunter are doing isn't easy or common. It has been 44 years since Green became the only NFL player over the last 75 years with 500-plus receiving yards and multiple interceptions in the same season, per ESPN Research.
"It's very unique," San Francisco offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak said. "It's pretty rare to see guys like that. I mean, I've never seen a player like that who wants to play every snap, doesn't want to come out of the game. Offense and defense. It's just a guy who's clearly wired the right way. He's wired to be a football player."
Those in the organization say they're not concerned that he has yet to find the end zone or intercept a pass.
"He's progressing, getting better every week," Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile said. "... We've gotten a bunch out of Travis and, like I said, looking forward to him progressing as we move forward."
Eventually that also will include an expanded role on offense lining up at multiple receiver spots, which Coen said he held off on doing this season because he didn't want to overload the rookie. When that happens, likely 2026, Coen said Hunter will be even better.
"I don't think it's fair right now to say, 'Hey dude, go learn Z and X and 12 [personnel] and this and that,'" Coen said. "We've got to make sure he can really go and execute what we're asking him to do first and foremost, which is play F and play corner. So, I think as we go and as he goes, I've got to believe that it'll continue to do this [upwards motion]."
ESPN reporters Jeremy Fowler, Nate Taylor, Nick Wagoner, and David Newton contributed to this story.