Travis Hunter has time and again made it clear that he wants to continue being a two-way star in the NFL. He remains determined to go all-in on both sides of the ball, playing full-time offense and full-time defense, just as he did at Colorado. His college football coach Deion Sanders, someone, who started off in a similar fashion, has backed him, even saying that the teams who don’t want to intend to use Hunter’s two-way threat, shouldn’t draft him. Both Hunter and Sanders have reiterated that he is equally good as a CB and a WR, with his college stats proof of it, but this has put the NFL teams in a conundrum. To them, Hunter is a unicorn that they cannot figure out.

Picture a Venn diagram of opinions about Hunter. There’s a minority that believes the Heisman and Biletnikoff winner shall primarily be a receiver in the NFL who plays some snaps on defense. There’s a majority who believes he’d be a lockdown corner used in certain offensive packages and game situations. Then there’s the crowd in the middle, hoping this unicorn continues his unprecedented run of doing both with almost equal pomp.

As the NFL Draft nears, the debate is once again heating up on Hunter’s position on the gridiron. On this occasion, we had former NFL safety Louis Riddick joining Harry Douglas to talk about where Hunter should start in the NFL.

On Tuesday, Riddick, Douglas, and Jason McCourty joined Mike Greenberg on ESPN’s Get Up to debate whether two-way Colorado star Travis Hunter should play WR or DB in the NFL. Riddick was asked a blunt question: “Is Travis Hunter a better corner or a better receiver?” Riddick answered, “I think he’s an instant corner. He’s an instant Pro Bowler at corner. I do believe that.” Having played in the secondary himself and then becoming a scout post-retirement, Riddick’s words hold weight, but Douglas was quick to jump in.

“I believe he’s better at wide receiver,” Douglas said, who has played 10 years in the league as a receiver himself, mind you. However, he added, “If I’m a team, I’m starting him at the cornerback position first.” When asked why he believes that, Douglas shared his reasoning.

“Because of what Louis just said, let me tell you why my brother doesn’t play football. He said, ‘You mean you got to run 40 yards down the field, run back without getting the ball, run 60 yards down the field, come back?'” he added. Playing corner at the outset shall allow Travis Hunter to build himself up as he adapts to the speed of the game.

Let’s get one thing straight: Playing every snap on both sides like he did at Colorado is simply unviable. Not only could it shorten his career with that much tread on the tires, but it would also lead to diminishing returns on both sides. So here’s a rationale for Travis Hunter being a corner if he were to give more weight to one position. This is followed by the inverse—why he’d rather want to be a receiver going forth.

His frame and quickness, or lack thereof, relative to the best wide receivers in the league lend to him being more of a WR2 or even WR3. Someone who’ll likely play in the slot, albeit not exclusively, instead of playing on the perimeter. They’re very sparse, but there are some holes in Hunter’s repertoire as a receiver. Meanwhile, he’d be the best corner on his team almost instantly. But conversely, there are also certain factors that may push him to be a receiver primarily who plays some corner here or there. 

Wide receivers in this era of football are more quintessential than they’ve ever been. As the game evolves into a more pass-centric style, they’re as precious a commodity as ever. This means they’re paid relatively better, too. Ja’Marr Chase just reset the WR market with roughly $40 million every year. Derek Stingley Jr. also just became the highest-paid CB, making $30 million a year. If and when Travis Hunter finishes his rookie-scale contract and gets a big payday, he’ll make tens of millions fewer as a CB than as a WR, as per the current standards. This could easily be a reason for Hunter to focus on that side of the football instead. 

To drive his initial point home about Hunter playing as a CB, Louis Riddick added, “There’s an instant return on investment if you put him on the defensive side. Immediately. Offense is a little bit more nuanced obviously, a little bit more dependent. [Also,] I think it’ll have something to do with the situation.”

While the experts have had their say, the teams will still have to figure out how they use Hunter. The Heisman winner has maintained that he aims to play both positions and even become a trailblazer.

At the NFL Combine, Hunte, who registered both as a CB and WR said, “They say nobody has ever done it the way I do it, but I tell them I’m just different. I am a different person. Nobody has done it, but I feel like I’ve put my body through a lot. I do a lot of treatment; people don’t get to see that part. … But I know I can do it. Hopefully, it becomes a thing.”

But there is one more thing for Hunter to consider. Teams might pick him with only one position in mind. The Tennessee Titans, who have the first pick of the Draft, see Hunter primarily as a cornerback. Their head coach Brian Callahan lauded Hunter’s abilities but said that he sees Hunter starting as a cornerback.

Eliot Wolf, the executive VP of player personnel at New England said, “He’s probably going to major in one [position] and minor in the other.” On the other hand, Andrew Berry, the GM of the Cleveland Browns, who have the second pick in the draft, has said, Hunter would play “receiver primarily first”.

Thus among the NFL teams, the assumption has been that he will play one position or the other, as it’s unlikely he would have the stamina to handle 100% of the snaps in the NFL. Plus, the risk of injury wouldn’t be worth it.

Speaking of the situation, that segues into which franchise is the frontrunner for drafting Hunter. More importantly, how that team shall utilize him and allow him to flourish.

Travis Hunter’s draft destination could alter the trajectory of his career

There are certain issues with playing both sides of the football that remain unaddressed. Travis Hunter playing both positions will mean he has to divide time in practice between the two units. This, in turn, will make it difficult to be on the same page with his quarterback. Currently, the New England Patriots are slated to pick Hunter at #4 across most mock drafts.

A ton of analysts and insiders seem to believe the Pats are a probability, too. So will they want their sophomore QB in Drake Maye and rookie WR in Travis Hunter to not have the best chance to build chemistry? Although this issue wasn’t apparent with Hunter in college, it’ll get amplified in the pros. Also, franchises and coaches will want to limit Hunter for another reason.

Being a consensus top-5 pick means you’re headed to a struggling team. Only they tend to have a draft pick that high! So consider how his future team, the Pats or otherwise, doesn’t have a great roster. Any potential injury would cause the team to lose its best player in two positions. Or worse, they have to overuse him in both positions due to a lack of quality elsewhere. Given that the new head coach, Mike Vrabel, is a defensive-minded coach, you’d expect him to want that side to be airtight.

This lends to Hunter being a corner primarily if he does wind up in New England. Maye needs weapons out wide, though, so he will get snaps on offense, too. A fair compromise, all things considered. 

Louis Riddick even said later on that while Travis Hunter has expressed his wish to play both, he’s “realistic enough to know he’ll have a primary position to start off with.” Wherever Hunter ends up going, he’ll hope for one thing. An environment and situation conducive to a young player’s development. The sky’s the limit for this kid, and getting wasted owing to his team never getting their rebuild together would be a travesty.