NFL prospect Travis Hunter is projected to play both wide receiver and cornerback in the pros, as he did in college. But some experts have questioned the validity of a player excelling at both positions at the pro level.
A player who came close to Hunter’s aspirations in the NFL is his former University of Colorado and Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders. Sanders was known almost entirely as an elite cornerback during his pro career, but also played wide receiver at rare times, mostly during the Dallas Cowboys’ 1996 season.
Now, former NFL wide receiver and three-time Super Bowl champion Ed McCaffrey thinks Hunter should follow a similar blueprint to Sanders. McAffrey believes Hunter is more valuable as a cornerback, and doesn’t expect Hunter to play every down on offense and defense in the pros, which Hunter often did in college.
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“Personally… I think right now he provides greater value at the cornerback position, I do not see any scenario where he doesn’t leave the field in the NFL, I don’t think that’s possible. Maybe for a game or once in a while you could play a significant number of snaps in the NFL, but long-term, I don’t think you can hold up,” McCaffrey said.
“It’s different in college when you’re significantly better and more physically gifted than the guys you’re going up against. When you get to the NFL, there isn’t as much of a gap in talent.”
McCaffrey also didn’t rule out the possibility of Hunter focusing on wide receiver either, but suggested Hunter’s mechanics are more refined as a cornerback, currently.
“Could he play receiver? Absolutely, he’s athletic enough to do it. I think he would need to work more on his route running and his skill set offensively than he would defensively,” McCaffrey said.
“I think most teams that are looking to draft him want him to be that shut-down, lockdown left corner who can take the best receiver out of the game.”
McCaffrey said this as someone who believes a football player’s duty is to play whichever position the coach chooses.
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As the father to four current and former football players, including San Francisco 49ers star running back Christian McCaffrey and Washington Commanders wide receiver Luke McCaffrey, and former players Max and Dylan McCaffrey, Ed has seen and helped facilitate plenty of full-time position changes.
“Max played DB junior year and moved to receiver senior year. Luke played cornerback as a sophomore, was a quarterback by the time he was a senior, now he’s a receiver. Christian played on both sides of the ball,” McCaffrey said.
“So I absolutely love what Travis Hunter has done in college. Travis Hunter is a football player.”
Hunter himself has rejected the idea of only playing one position in the NFL.
The forthcoming rookie said he would “never play football again” if he was told by coaches to only focus on playing either cornerback or wide receiver.
“It’s never playing football again,” Hunter told CBS Sports last week. “Because I’ve been doing it my whole life, and I love being on the football field. I feel like I could dominate on each side of the ball, so I really enjoy doing it.”
Last season, Hunter played 713 snaps on offense and 748 snaps on defense and was still incredibly productive despite the enormous amount of snaps.
He had 96 catches for 1,258 yards with 15 touchdowns as a wide receiver, while he had 35 tackles with four interceptions, 11 passes defended, and one forced fumble as a cornerback.
Meanwhile, the team that is currently the odds-on favorite to land Hunter, the Cleveland Browns, have suggested they want Hunter to focus on playing wide receiver.
“In terms of Travis Hunter, cornerback or receiver, the answer is ‘yes.’ He can play both, and I think that’s what makes him special. But we would see him as a receiver primarily first,” said Browns general manager Andrew Berry at the NFL Combine in February.
“But I think what makes him a bit of a unicorn is that he can do both at a high level.”
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