Deion Sanders helped make Travis Hunter one of the NFL’s most hyped rookies. Now he is calling out the Jacksonville Jaguars’ usage of him.
Sanders appeared on the latest episode of the “New Heights” podcast released Monday, and he was critical of how the Jaguars have deployed Hunter so far this season. The Colorado head coach argued that Hunter needs more reps to be effective, and that the Jaguars are underutilizing him.
“They’re not using him enough,” Sanders said, via Brad Crawford of CBS Sports. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes on an everyday basis for three straight years, so I know what he’s capable of, and I know how you’ve got to take care of him. He never practices on Tuesday. He practices on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. He was ready to play a hundred and some snaps on Saturday, so you didn’t need to use him on a Tuesday or a Monday. You don’t use him like that.”
Through three games, Hunter has played 59 percent of Jacksonville’s offensive snaps and 47 percent of defensive snaps. He has a modest 10 catches for 76 yards so far this season.
The Jaguars have indicated that they plan to keep boosting Hunter’s workload. In their Week 3 win over Houston, he played a season-best 68.3 percent of the team’s defensive snaps, but his 37 offensive snaps were a season low.
Ironically, some have argued that the Jaguars need to pick one side of the ball and have Hunter put all his focus into that. Sanders is arguing the opposite, and he certainly knows Hunter better than most.
