INDIANAPOLIS – Travis Hunter stepped to the podium on Thursday wearing the official NFL combine-issued shirt that identified him as “DB 15.”
What a misnomer that was. In multiple ways.
Hunter is, well, arguably No. 1 when it comes to ranking the talent, cornerbacks or otherwise, lined up for the upcoming NFL draft. And to ID the Heisman Trophy winner these days as merely a DB misses the point, too.
As Hunter prepares to make the leap from Colorado to a much greater stage in the NFL, he’ll bring significant intrigue with hopes to play both ways – as cornerback and wide receiver – as demonstrated in college under the watch of Coach Prime.
“They say nobody has ever done it the way I do it,” Hunter, 21, declared before a thick pack of media. “But I tell them I’m just different. I’m a different person.”
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
Shoot, if any player needs a shirt with a slash – as in CB/WR – this is your guy.
Hunter undoubtedly possesses immense talent. Yet he might have even more self-confidence as he doesn’t blink when sharing his vision of full-time double duty. If only there was a combine measurable for that trait.
“I’ve got my own unique case that I can play both sides of the ball,” he said. “Not that many people in the NFL have done it.”
Especially since Chuck Bednarik went both ways for the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1960s.
Conventional wisdom suggests Hunter would establish himself as a full-time player at one position, then handle a lesser amount of snaps at the other position. After all, it’s the highest level of competition that we’re talking about. It will be tough enough, even for an immense talent like Hunter, to prove elite at one position.
Then again, they told Hunter coming out of high school that there was no way he would excel as a two-way player on the major college level. Just one coach, Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, was willing to let him go for it.
And well, this past season en route to the award for the best player in college football, Hunter averaged an astonishing 113 snaps per game – with basically a 50-50 split between offense and defense.
But still. Several NFL personnel shot-callers told me recently that they projected Hunter as a cornerback who could get spot duty as a receiver.
At the combine this week, Eliot Wolf, the New England Patriots’ top personnel executive, echoed that theme. The Patriots, by the way, could have a shot at drafting Hunter while holding the fourth pick overall.
“He’s probably going to major in one and minor in the other,” Wolf said. “But I think there’s a scenario where he could play both ways.”
This intrigue includes whether he’s a cornerback first (as the shirt suggested) or a receiver first. Part of the cornerback-first argument: It is much more difficult to find an elite cornerback than an elite receiver. So, maybe there’s a supply-and-demand quotient in play.
Yet the receiver-first argument includes this: Size. Hunter is listed at 6-1, 185 pounds. No, he wouldn’t be a “big” cornerback. Besides, what makes him special are his “ball skills.”
“Well, I’d say this, in terms of Travis Hunter, cornerback or receiver? The answer is yes,” Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry said. “So, he can play both and I think that’s what makes him special.
“We would see him as a receiver primarily first, but I think part of what makes him a bit of a unicorn is the fact that he can do both at a high level.”
Berry, holding the second pick overall, said he sees Hunter as a receiver first because of the opportunities he would have to impact the game.
“His superpower, they’re really his ball skills, and that’s a position where you can use it 100 times during the season versus maybe 30 on the high end,” Berry maintained. “But look, we’ll have our coaches and scouts fight it out.”
Although Hunter doubled down on his desire for full-time double-duty, he also said he wouldn’t push back if the team that drafts him prefers to concentrate on one position.
“Yeah, I would hope for them to go out there and let me earn the other position,” he said. “But that’s up to them, not me.”
In the meantime, Hunter hopes to convince teams that his body can withstand the rigors of double duty. He talked up the training and recovery methods employed during his college career as proof.
“Cold tubs, hot tubs, cardio, (hyperbaric oxygen) chamber, red-lighting,” he said. “A lot of stuff.”
It should also be noted that hundreds of top-tier athletes in the NFL employ such methods to maintain peak performance. And many have reputations similar to Hunter for extreme endurance.
Go ahead, question what makes him special with this. The doubt might be part of the equation that triggers his superpower.
“Nobody has done it, but I feel like I have put my body through a lot,” Hunter said. “I do a lot of treatment. People don’t get to see that part, what I do for my body to make sure I’m 100 percent each game. I feel like nobody can do it. I did it at the college level, where you rarely get breaks. There are a lot more breaks in the NFL.”
Say what?
Let’s hear it for youthful vigor and fresh legs.
It makes you wonder: If Travis Hunter the cornerback covered Travis Hunter the wide receiver, who wins that matchup?
“Travis Hunter,” he said.
Then again, even Hunter has his limits. Someone asked him whether he expects that he will also return kickoffs and punts in the NFL.
“I don’t know about returner,” he replied. “I’ve already got two jobs on my hand.”
And if it’s up to Hunter, it will prove quite the point. Again.
Follow Jarrett Bell on social media @JarrettBell
