RP Clips: Jags’ Offense Dilemma - Unlocking Travis Hunter & What’s Next for BTJ?

Matt Harmon (0:00)

This is Reception Perception, The Show. Now, James Koh and Matt Harmon.

James Koh (0:06)

In terms of Jacksonville, Travis Hunter obviously made a lot of noise, and I'm sure a lot of interest and eyebrows were piqued when Travis Hunter caught a touchdown. A lot of folks were like, hmm, okay, interesting.

Yes, your eyebrows specifically, pal. But Travis Hunter catches a touchdown and catches a interception. One of very few players to ever do that. And then on top of that, Brian Thomas Jr. I mean, come on, man, like he's out there doing nothing right now. So again, the trade rumors here for BTJ firing up, Travis Hunter, his role expansion, obviously fueling some of that talk here as well. I don't know, what are your thoughts there in Jacksonville?

Matt Harmon (0:55)

I have a lot of thoughts on this.

James Koh (0:58)

Okay.

Matt Harmon (0:58)

Obviously, this I think was the first time, maybe since he's arrived in Jacksonville where I felt, okay, this two-way player thing can work out.

And just for new people who might not have followed our show and Reception Perception during the 2025 NFL Draft, I think Travis Hunter, if he just focused at, like just was a wide receiver in some mythical universe where that's all he was and all he did, I think he could be one of the best receivers in the league. That's how talented the guy is. Now, obviously that's never been in the cards for him just to focus at that position because he wants to play two ways. And I totally respect that desire and I think the team respects that desire as well. And also that being said, I've said this on the show, I think last week where he's so good at corner that I would get it if they just wanted to play him at corner and like don't play wide receiver because he's such an asset at corner. And you just mentioned this was Sauce Gardner earlier. Teams are, I think like my respect for cornerbacks is so high because I work on receivers. It's just hard. These receivers are so good. The coverages are so difficult. The communication is difficult. And you give up one big play. Oh, this guy sucks, but you could lock down a guy for 95 percent of the game. And frankly, that was kind of Travis Hunter against Nico Collins. I thought Hunter, going back and watching the tape and coverage was really good in this game.

He does give up a couple of plays to Nico Collins because Nico Collins is a 6'4, 215 freak show. He's going to get to you a couple of times, especially with the way CJ Stroud is playing right now. To that point, actually again derailing this and talking about the coverage part of it, Stroud's one interception in this game, I thought Stroud was great, but his one interception in this game was really a play where Hunter stumbles, and Stroud thinks, okay, no, I got this, I can fit this one in there. Hunter's recovery speed and athleticism is so incredible that he gets in position to make the interception because he's just, again, that special from a coverage standpoint. But going back to the offensive side of the football here, look, he only, I think he played ultimately was, again, mostly in the second half, which we'll get back to the BTJ part of it. But all told, he played nine snaps on offense, he ran seven routes. So I am not going to have a charting profile on Hunter from those seven routes. That said, I did look at the tape and did some handwritten notes. My handwriting is absolutely atrocious. So it's only, and it's even worse when I'm not trying, and I'm not trying here, so I just wrote this for me. But the usage I thought in this game was really interesting. So he had all told, like I said, seven routes, nine snaps. He had four targets, four catches, and they were all really interesting. The first one, he motions from the Z to the slot across the field and runs a big post route.

The next one is in 13 personnel. He actually motions into the slot because they have one of the tight ends as the farthest outside receiver, and that's like a quick slant against man coverage for some yards after catch there. Backfield motion screen for the second one, a little slip screen on the other side of the field, and then the angle route out of the backfield again for a touchdown. I think the, and then again, we're going back and watching the other routes, not the targets.