I’m skeptical on the whole Travis Hunter double position experiment. For it to pay off (for fantasy purposes) he’s going to have to perform at levels we haven’t seen.
The Jaguars are going to use him extensively at both wide receiver and cornerback. He’s practicing at both. Certainly, he can contribute some spark plays when the ball is in his hands, and they also could really benefit from adding a corner with his coverage skills.
But getting the best version of Hunter at either position isn’t really possible. He’s missing substantial practice reps at both positions, and there’s the considerable question of physical wear and tear.
In the last 10 years, there have been 33 cornerbacks selected with first-round picks. Those players have averaged 56 plays per game. The 11 who’s started at least 14 games have averaged 62 plays per game.
| FIRST-ROUND CORNERBACKS (last 10 years) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Pk | College | G | St | Snaps | Avg |
| 2022 | Sauce Gardner, NYJ | 4 | Cincinnati | 17 | 17 | 1,115 | 65.6 |
| 2017 | Tre'Davious White, Buff. | 27 | Louisiana State | 16 | 16 | 1,093 | 68.3 |
| 2016 | Jalen Ramsey, Jac. | 5 | Florida State | 16 | 16 | 1,059 | 66.2 |
| 2016 | Vernon Hargreaves, T.B. | 11 | Florida | 16 | 16 | 1,037 | 64.8 |
| 2015 | Marcus Peters, K.C. | 18 | Washington | 16 | 16 | 1,036 | 64.8 |
| 2017 | Adoree Jackson, Ten. | 18 | Southern Cal | 16 | 16 | 1,020 | 63.8 |
| 2024 | Quinyon Mitchell, Phil. | 22 | Toledo | 16 | 16 | 955 | 59.7 |
| 2019 | Deandre Baker, NYG | 30 | Georgia | 16 | 15 | 970 | 60.6 |
| 2020 | Jeff Gladney, Min. | 31 | TCU | 16 | 15 | 958 | 59.9 |
| 2024 | Terrion Arnold, Det. | 24 | Alabama | 16 | 15 | 948 | 59.3 |
| 2021 | Patrick Surtain, Den. | 9 | Alabama | 16 | 15 | 902 | 56.4 |
| 2023 | Deonte Banks, NYG | 24 | Maryland | 15 | 15 | 844 | 56.3 |
| 2021 | Eric Stokes, G.B. | 29 | Georgia | 16 | 14 | 935 | 58.4 |
| 2020 | AJ Terrell, Atl. | 16 | Clemson | 14 | 14 | 909 | 64.9 |
| 2023 | Devon Witherspoon, Sea. | 5 | Illinois | 14 | 13 | 883 | 63.1 |
| 2017 | Marshon Lattimore, N.O. | 11 | Ohio State | 13 | 13 | 751 | 57.8 |
| 2018 | Denzel Ward, Cle. | 4 | Ohio State | 13 | 12 | 841 | 64.7 |
| 2018 | Jaire Alexander, G.B. | 18 | Louisville | 13 | 11 | 760 | 58.5 |
| 2016 | Eli Apple, NYG | 10 | Ohio State | 14 | 11 | 700 | 50.0 |
| 2021 | Greg Newsome, Cle. | 26 | Northwestern | 12 | 11 | 691 | 57.6 |
| 2022 | Trent McDuffie, K.C. | 21 | Washington | 11 | 11 | 682 | 62.0 |
| 2015 | Kevin Johnson, Hou. | 16 | Wake Forest | 16 | 10 | 800 | 50.0 |
| 2016 | Artie Burns, Pitt. | 25 | Miami (Fla.) | 16 | 9 | 810 | 50.6 |
| 2015 | Damarious Randall, G.B. | 30 | Arizona State | 15 | 9 | 752 | 50.1 |
| 2022 | Derek Stingley, Hou. | 3 | Louisiana State | 9 | 9 | 600 | 66.7 |
| 2020 | C.J. Henderson, Jac. | 9 | Florida | 8 | 8 | 474 | 59.3 |
| 2020 | Damon Arnette, L.V. | 19 | Ohio State | 9 | 7 | 343 | 38.1 |
| 2024 | Nate Wiggins, Balt. | 30 | Clemson | 15 | 6 | 680 | 45.3 |
| 2023 | Emmanuel Forbes, Was. | 16 | Mississippi State | 14 | 6 | 482 | 34.4 |
| 2022 | Kaiir Elam, Buff. | 23 | Florida | 13 | 6 | 477 | 36.7 |
| 2020 | Jeff Okudah, Det. | 3 | Ohio State | 9 | 6 | 460 | 51.1 |
| 2023 | Christian Gonzalez, N.E. | 17 | Oregon | 4 | 4 | 209 | 52.3 |
| 2020 | Noah Igbinoghene, Mia. | 30 | Auburn | 16 | 2 | 287 | 17.9 |
On the other side of the ball, on the other hand, the 20 best wide receivers of the last 10 years (and that’s what’s hoped for from Hunter) have averaged 49 plays. The top 10 receivers of the last 10 years have averaged 54 plays.
Of the top 7 rookie receivers of the last 10 years, all but one have averaged 55-plus plays. (I’ve got those guys in bold, while those averaging fewer than 45 plays are tagged with black dots).
| 20 BEST ROOKIE RECEIVERS (last 10 years) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | No | Yds | TD | PPR | Rk | Plays |
| 2021 | Ja'Marr Chase | 81 | 1,455 | 13 | 306.6 | 5 | 55.2 |
| 2023 | Puka Nacua | 105 | 1,486 | 6 | 298.5 | 4 | 58.8 |
| 2024 | Brian Thomas | 87 | 1,282 | 10 | 284.0 | 4 | 48.3 |
| 2020 | Justin Jefferson | 88 | 1,400 | 7 | 274.2 | 6 | 55.4 |
| 2024 | Malik Nabers | 109 | 1,204 | 7 | 273.6 | 6 | 59.1 |
| 2016 | Michael Thomas | 92 | 1,137 | 9 | 259.7 | 7 | 57.8 |
| 2021 | Jaylen Waddle | 104 | 1,015 | 7 | 247.8 | 12 | 56.4 |
| 2024 | Ladd McConkey | 82 | 1,149 | 7 | 240.9 | 14 | 45.9 |
| 2021 | Amon-Ra St. Brown | 90 | 912 | 6 | 227.3 | 22 | 48.0 |
| 2023 | Jordan Addison | 70 | 911 | 10 | 221.3 | 23 | 54.2 |
| 2020 | CeeDee Lamb | 74 | 935 | 7 | 219.7 | 22 | 45.7 |
| 2016 | • Tyreek Hill | 61 | 593 | 12 | 219.0 | 18 | 26.0 |
| 2022 | Garrett Wilson | 83 | 1,103 | 4 | 217.7 | 21 | 52.0 |
| 2023 | • Jayden Reed | 64 | 793 | 10 | 217.2 | 25 | 36.1 |
| 2019 | • A.J. Brown | 52 | 1,051 | 9 | 217.1 | 22 | 42.4 |
| 2020 | • Chase Claypool | 62 | 873 | 11 | 216.9 | 23 | 43.3 |
| 2015 | Amari Cooper | 72 | 1,070 | 6 | 214.7 | 21 | 56.3 |
| 2023 | • Rashee Rice | 79 | 938 | 7 | 214.5 | 27 | 38.9 |
| 2018 | • Calvin Ridley | 64 | 821 | 10 | 208.8 | 20 | 40.3 |
| 2023 | Zay Flowers | 77 | 858 | 6 | 206.4 | 31 | 56.6 |
For Hunter to pay off as a fantasy pick, in other words, we’re looking for some combination of him handling a physical workload that’s far above anything anybody’s handled, or were asking him to somehow manage to put up elite receivers while being on the field for only a fraction of what a typical receiver is playing.
I don’t like either option.
While Hunter is an elite athlete, I don’t think it’s realistic for him to be on the field for 90-plus plays per game. That would make an injury more likely, and he’d probably also wear down. Hunter held up last year, but he missed 5, 5 and 3 games in his previous three seasons.
And I don’t see there being much chance of Hunter skipping a large portion of offensive plays but still posting big numbers. He’s talented, but he’s unpolished as a wide receiver. He’s also going to a lesser team with a dubious offensive line.
I’m sure Hunter will do some cool things, but I expect he’ll be picked long before I would get around to him.
—Ian Allan