Dual-threat Decisions

By: Josh Frey-Sam

Is Travis Hunter a cornerback or a wide receiver?

The answer, I believe, will be in the eye of the beholder.

Hunter played an unfathomable 1,380 snaps at Colorado last season. For comparison, the player with the second most snaps in the country was 382 behind him.

Of those snaps, Hunter played 670 on offence and 686 on defence — a true two-way player.

We’ve simply never seen a prospect like this, someone who has the ability to be an elite receiver AND/OR an elite cornerback. The topic of today’s newsletter is those capitalized words.

Hunter topped 100 snaps in 10 of Colorado’s 12 games last season. As special as he is, I’m convinced it’s damn near impossible for him to succeed in the NFL while playing that much.

So the question for whoever chooses him on draft night will be: is he a receiver who plays cornerback part-time, or is he a cornerback who is sprinkled in on offence?

I believe it depends on the way that team is built. So let’s look at every team inside the top 10 and determine how Hunter would likely be used.

Titans: The only way Hunter goes to Tennessee is if they trade out of the No.1 pick, but he would major in offence and minor in defence in this situation. If the Titans don’t take Cam Ward, that would mean they either landed a veteran QB late or are rolling with Will Levis. In either case, they need a difference-maker on offence opposite Calvin Ridley.

Browns: Offence. The Browns are in a good spot at cornerback. Meanwhile, Hunter would immediately become their top weapon on offence.

Giants: Offence— I think. This is a tough one because the Giants have Nabers on offence and just signed Paulson Adebo to play opposite Deonte Banks. This offence still needs some juice, and I would think Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson wouldn’t want to keep this guy off the field.

Patriots: Offence. You have Drake Maye entering his second season, and Hunter would step in as the best weapon in the building. No way he’s not getting the ball.

Jaguars: Defence. We have yet to see what kind of defensive scheme Anthony Campanile will deploy — it won’t be nearly as man-heavy as Ryan Nielsen — but the Jags were shredded through the air last season. Tyson Campbell and Hunter would make for one of the better shutdown pairings in the league.

Raiders: This is tough because the Raiders would desperately need him on both sides of the ball. I’m gonna side with defence, but this might be the toughest of the teams.

Jets: Another tough one, but I’ll choose defence. Justin Fields, Breece Hall and Garett Wilson — along with another weapon, hopefully — should be OK on offence. Man, Sauce Gardner and Hunter would be a ton of fun to watch.

Panthers: Offence! Bryce Young needs this at his disposal.

Saints: I think the narrative around the whole secondary would change with Hunter in the mix. Put him on defence. This offence would look really dangerous for the 15ish snaps with Hunter, Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed on the field, though.

Bears: Easy. Offence. Hunter, Rome Odunze and DJ Moore? Ben Johnson is salivating.

Listen, the reality is Hunter is special enough that he’s going to excel wherever he plays at the next level.

And there’s just no way he plays exclusively on one side of the ball. He has too much game-changing ability not to play him as much as you can.

He’s not going to play full-time on both sides, though, so it’s nice to lay out the potential suitors to see what a partnership would look like.

Where do I think he goes? You’ll see where I currently stand in my second mock draft, which is Saturday’s newsletter!

Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Josh