Travis Hunter drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the No. 2 pick: Fantasy football fallout

Yahoo

07-05-2025

Fantasy football managers released a collective sigh of relief when the Cleveland Browns pulled off a shocking trade, moving down from the No. 2 overall pick. They collected a king's ransom from Jacksonville, who selected the player considered the very best in the draft. Colorado's do-it-all superstar, Travis Hunter, is a member of the Jaguars.
Now, as much as we might be excited at the prospect of Travis Hunter being paired with Brian Thomas Jr., we do have to wonder if Jacksonville wants to use Hunter at corner for a substantial amount of snaps. If they do, that will undoubtedly cut into his fantasy football value, no matter how excited we are about him as a wideout.
Here's what new Jags head coach Liam Cohen had to say about Hunter's future: 'We'll have a plan right now of [him] primarily on offense with learning the defensive system and practicing on the defensive side of the ball as well throughout this offseason program,' Coen said. 'As we continue to grow, we have to be fluid throughout this whole process.'
Nonetheless, Yahoo Fantasy analyst Andy Behrens is excited about Hunter landing with the Jaguars — giving the pick an A for fantasy fit with this rationale:
Jacksonville entered the night with clear needs in the secondary and the receiving room, and they managed to address both in a single pick, via a mega-blockbuster trade. Phew. It's hard to not admire the move. Hunter is a massively talented receiving prospect, a tremendous fit for Liam Coen's offense.
Hunter is one of the most unique prospects the NFL has ever seen, the buzz around the Heisman winner never falling. He's even been compared to Shohei Ohtani in MLB as a two-way cheat code (which is probably unfair to both players).
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Now, all of our collective attention will turn to how Hunter is deployed — whether as a full-time receiver, a wideout who receives a package of cornerback snaps, or if he'll really try to play both ways week in and week out. Nonetheless, let's remember just how different Hunter truly is, as told by Yahoo Fantasy analyst and Reception Perception creator, Matt Harmon:
Travis Hunter is in a tier of his own
Obviously, Travis Hunter is more than just a wide receiver. He's one of the best pure football players that's ever taken the college field. This should not be a hot take! He won the Heisman because he was the best cornerback in the nation and the best wideout in the nation. Hunter is also the top prospect at both positions in this class.
As just a wide receiver, Hunter is an absolutely ludicrous player with limitless potential, especially since he was rarely in offensive meetings at Colorado.
He separates with ease despite not being fully evolved as a route runner, has a great and varied set of release moves, wins contested catches, possesses A+ ball-tracking skills and rarely goes down on first contact with the ball in his hands.
Hunter is difficult to rank for fantasy football, dynasty or anything of the sort. We simply don't know what his allocation of snaps will be at the NFL level. Anyone putting their chest out with confidence on this is just exercising some performative bluster. What I know for sure is that he's one of my favorite wideouts I've ever evaluated and we should all know by now not to put limits on special football players. If you don't think Hunter has already shown himself to be a special football player, I'm sorry, but you're just a hater for contrarian's sake — simple as that. — Matt Harmon