INDIANAPOLIS — Travis Hunter played 111 snaps per game as the Heisman Trophy winner at Colorado last season and boldly lobbied future employers to allow him to continue dual-position duty in the NFL.
Hunter was designated a defensive back at the NFL Scouting Combine this week if only because prospects require a position designation for scheduling their four days at the event, where calendars hold appointments for medical evaluations, media, drug testing, measurements (height, weight, arm length, hand size, etc.), agility and athletic testing and position-specific on-field workouts.
“They say nobody has ever done it for real the way I do it,” said Hunter, who declined to say which teams are on his Indianapolis interview schedule. “I tell them I’m just different. I’m just a different person.”
Browns general manager Andrew Berry said Monday that Cleveland slots Hunter as a wide receiver primarily. The Tennessee Titans pick No. 1 and believe Hunter is further along at cornerback.
“In terms of Travis Hunter, cornerback or receiver? The answer is yes,” Berry said. “He can play both, I think that’s what makes him special. I think receiver primarily first, but I think what makes him a bit of a unicorn is the fact that he can do it at a high level.”
Hunter said he’s done meetings with teams at both positions. He said he told teams taking care of his body is part of the reason he can play two roles at the next level. He was first-team All-Big 12 at both positions last season with four interceptions on defense and 96 receptions for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns on offense.
The NFL financial precedent of playing two positions isn’t a focus, he said, but Hunter is intent on being the No. 1 overall pick.
“It should be important,” Hunter said. “It was one of my dreams, to go No. 1, and to be the best I can be.”
Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi and head coach Brian Callahan said there are no identical comparisons to Hunter as a prospect, which presents a unique challenge in the evaluation process and projecting how vast his ceiling might be entering the league.
“We were watching him, and I don’t know if there’s anybody who has ever done what he’s done in the modern day football, playing both offense and defense during the course of the season,” Borgonzi said. “He’s definitely a special player.”
–Jeff Reynolds, Field Level Media
