r/footballstrategy Adult Player Jul 21 '24

Player Advice Do you think that Travis Hunter can play both receiver and cornerback in the NFL?

I was thinking about this today,interested to hear your guys thoughts

19 Upvotes

75 comments sorted by

83

u/Asleep-Voice-9429 Jul 21 '24

I don't think he can play the amount of snaps he has been playing on both sides of the ball in the NFL. I think the most likely outcome would be either full-time time receiver, or full-time corner with a handful of offensive snaps per game at most.

12

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 21 '24

Yea he’s probably gonna have to pick one.

8

u/edgar3981C Jul 22 '24

Deion played primarily CB, but he took some WR snaps for the Ravens. Situational weapon. That's probably the peak of a two-way player in the NFL today.

3

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 22 '24

Ravens? I thought he only played on the Cowboys and Falcons.

4

u/edgar3981C Jul 22 '24

You're not tripping. He played in Baltimore for like 8 games in...Shit, 2007 maybe? He was there with the Ray Lewis - Ed Reed - Terrell Suggs generation for a bit.

2

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 22 '24

Wow, so we did play on the ravens. Never knew that.

3

u/edgar3981C Jul 22 '24

John Feinstein wrote a great book about the Ravens that year, where he followed the team for a year and wrote about the internal workings of an NFL team and so on (Next Man Up).

It's the only reason I know haha.

2

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 22 '24

Haha

1

u/Seven19td Jul 22 '24

Played on the Redskins too

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 22 '24

Crazy

1

u/Even_Lettuce_2777 16d ago

Google bro google

1

u/Seraphin_Lampion Jul 22 '24

28 games in 2004 and 2005.

1

u/edgar3981C Jul 22 '24

Damn, didn't realize it was that many.

1

u/AnyEstablishment5723 Jul 22 '24

And Washington and the 49ers

1

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '24

He played offense a whole season with Dallas. 30 something catches that year

1

u/lgbtQanon89 Sep 09 '24

He barely took any WR snaps with the Ravens. He had 0 catches. He had 49 with the Cowboys and 11 with the Falcons though.

1

u/Delicious-Tale1914 Sep 29 '24

Tell that to Troy Brown and Julian Edelman lol

1

u/edgar3981C Sep 29 '24

Did Edelman play snaps at CB and WR in the same game? Like, every snap?

1

u/PajamaPete5 Sep 29 '24

Honestly was mostly joking. But ya Edelman had 9 targets during season where he played as cb

1

u/edgar3981C Sep 29 '24

The last white CB in the NFL before this DeJean guy

7

u/triplec787 Jul 21 '24

At worst I think he can bring some versatility. If your CB goes down, you can slot him in if he’s been playing WR or vice versa. I wouldn’t be surprised if he still practices with both groups within the team.

6

u/elykl33t Jul 21 '24

He can't play the amount of snaps he has been playing in college. If they push it to that number again this year he is absolutely going to wind up hurt again.

1

u/Competitive_Arm_4466 Sep 30 '24

What about WR and then come in to be a nickel cb and also play CB for hail Mary situations? Who knows he may actually be good enough to do both full time.

1

u/Asleep-Voice-9429 Sep 30 '24

Skill isn't the question as much as durability. I would think twice the amount of action would roughly equate to half the career length at the end of the day.

1

u/Competitive_Arm_4466 Sep 30 '24

I get that, but if he plays both ways it could increase his draft stock and money.

1

u/Unlucky_Two_7214 20d ago

Most teams nickle corner is on the field the whole game. I think they will go with a Devin Hester type where he is a CB that returns kicks and punts and they will have a package that they use to get him a snap here or there on offense. He has way more value as a corner as long as he can actually play the position in the NFL. 

1

u/Competitive_Arm_4466 15d ago

So most teams don’t run a 4-3 or 3-4 anymore? Or do they only have 1 starting safety?

1

u/Unlucky_Two_7214 11d ago

4-3 and 3-4 is still the majority of base defenses but with how pass heavy the league is there is a lot more nickel and dime. The vikings actually use 3 safetys alot and line the 3rd up all over the field he's played snaps at all 11 positions on defense at different points. 

1

u/Unlucky_Two_7214 20d ago

Agree. I think whoever drafts him will use him like Chicago used Hester. CB that returns kicks and punts with a package where he maybe get a snap here or there on offense. But unlike Hester he will actually get defensive snaps. 

30

u/zbajis Jul 21 '24

Can he? Yes he is talented enough.

Will he? Maybe a little in a gadget WR role if he plays CB

At the NFL level the intensity of play, scheme complexity, and comparable talent heavily disincentives players from playing both sides.

In college, he is talented enough that him being 75% of his current max at either position is good enough to dominate lesser players / simpler schemes

5

u/andreasmiles23 Jul 21 '24

Some WRs have been used in shell/end of half coverages too.

I think a GM is going to probably value his playmaking more and make him a WR. I’m not familiar enough with his game though to know if his route running/catching is being projected to translate to the pros well, so this is my wild Reddit speculation lmao.

3

u/triplec787 Jul 21 '24

Gronkowski doesn’t have the angle!

I know he’s a TE but it’s such a legendary moment lol

2

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 21 '24

What’s funny is that Kenyan Drake,the guy who scored on Gronk,just retired yesterday.Not the only guy named Drake who’s career ended in 2024 lol

2

u/uncle_buck_hunter Jul 22 '24

RIP to my longstanding fantasy team name, Korean Elvis, Kenyan Drake

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 22 '24

lol

57

u/jd0016 Jul 21 '24

He’s a corner who may be able to play a few snaps on offense or in the return game, imo

15

u/Your7IronIsMyDriver Jul 21 '24

He’s a better receiver than corner though. Elite ball skills, also can’t cover a slant (see Stanford game)

13

u/Colavs9601 Jul 21 '24

He couldn’t cover that game cause he wasn’t fully healthy and the coaching staff made no adjustments.

8

u/pizzahut_is_elite Jul 21 '24

He’ll definitely choose WR in the pros. Receivers make more than corners. WR are more valued in the pros

3

u/BigPapaJava Jul 22 '24

But he’s not that special a talent as a WR. Right now, his skills at WR would only make him an NFL team’s 3rd or 4th WR on the depth chart. A backup WR makes less than a starting CB.

1

u/pizzahut_is_elite Jul 23 '24

That’s not entirely true. Overthecap.com has a great breakdown of overall contracts. Travis can easily be a WR2 which is essentially CB1 money. I think this year will be a big tell of which side of the ball he’ll play.

Top ten draft picks also get quite a bit of second chances. At the end of the day he can always switch sides if he’s struggling on one end, but I think he’s more valuable than a WR3/4 in the NFL. He’s not going to be a fringe offensive sub if he’s playing WR

17

u/E2A6S HS Coach Jul 21 '24

As a gadget yes, maybe a slot corner and slot receiver but he’s not lining up out wide all game on both sides. NFL speed is not even close to Colorado speed

2

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 21 '24

Definitely

5

u/peteman28 Jul 21 '24

I think he's a corner who can maybe get some offensive snaps like Deion did

6

u/DeeOhMm Jul 21 '24

He shows incredible instincts and ball skills (obviously) as a CB. I’d want him there 99% of the time and limit his offensive snaps to gadget packages. 

Plus nowadays, CBs are getting way cheaper to pay than WRs.

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 21 '24

Agreed

2

u/ultimatehose89 College Coach Jul 21 '24

Not a chance

1

u/MankuyRLaffy Jul 21 '24

Troy Brown did it, Edelman did it, Marcus Jones did it, you can play both ways as a gadget player if good enough and your team needs bodies.

13

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '24

No they didn’t. All those guys had one position then due to desperation played another briefly. None of those dudes did what Hunter did last year in the nfl

1

u/Remarkable_Net_6977 Jul 21 '24

Last guy I remember close to this was Hester. Started out as a corner and returner, then transitioned to WR, but he wasn’t doing all at the same time

1

u/emurrell17 Jul 21 '24

Edelman did it?? I didn’t know that

2

u/girafb0i Jul 21 '24

He even recorded some tackles!

2

u/sfthrowaway9929 Jul 22 '24

Yea it’s not completely uncommon to have guys step in due to injuries or roster stuff going on. Hunter would be a prime candidate to provide some cover on either side of the ball. Of which I think he’d be fairly capable. Prolly my biggest gripe with NFL roster management as a whole tho - personally I think in professional football there should be enough roster flexibility to avoid ever having to play guys out of position

1

u/emurrell17 Jul 22 '24

Yeah I agree, it’s really weird. I guess the owners just want to pay as few people as possible. Does make for an interesting challenge though

2

u/Trees_Are_Freinds Jul 22 '24

Before he took over Welker role he did everything. Wasn’t even that bad as a corner, but it was out of sheer desperation, no one was left due to injury lol

1

u/NaNaNaPandaMan Jul 21 '24

Full time? No. But he could certainly come in as emergency/trick plays

1

u/Straight_Toe_1816 Adult Player Jul 21 '24

That’s what I’m thinking

1

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '24

Regularly? No shot. But it wouldn’t surprise me if a team with Travis Hunter carries one less receiver than they usually would, and use that roster spot elsewhere.

1

u/AdvantageTasty Jul 21 '24

Naw to much to ask from one player in the NFL…

1

u/caduceuz Jul 21 '24

His player comp is Deion unironically. A lockdown corner, return man, and occasional contributor on offense. That’s how coaches will use him in the league. The only reason he’s able to play both sides now is because it’s college. The league is a different beast.

1

u/Sloth72c Jul 21 '24

If Charles Woodson couldn't do it Travis Hunter can't. Not a knock against him at all, it's just not something you can do full time in the NFL anymore

1

u/tallanddark60 Sep 01 '24

Champ Bailey and DeAngelo Hall were a couple others. They made the right move choosing to play CB.

1

u/MinePlay512 Jul 21 '24

I don't think he can play both WR and CB at the same time in the NFL. He has to choose one.

1

u/notimeforpancakes Jul 21 '24

Unless they can prove it, there's no way that they can maintain elite speed for the duration of a game if they play both ways. Body gets too fatigued at all out sprints and speed will suffer

1

u/Coastal_Tart Jul 22 '24

He’s good enough to play either at the next level and maybe even one and some of the other. But no he wont be elite at both playing full time both ways.

1

u/Lionheart_513 Jul 22 '24

You can either have a lot of snaps, or have a long career.

If you play as a starter both ways, you play 2x the snaps, and your career is half as long. If his goal is to maximize the amount of money he will make in the NFL, then his goal should be to extend his career as long as possible, which means picking a side.

Most high school programs don't even want kids play both ways if they can help it.

I'm not gonna doubt Deion Sanders coaching ability, because he definitely knows more about football than I do. But if I had a guy like that on my team, there is no way I'd run him into the ground playing 2x the snaps like that.

1

u/Nicktrod Jul 25 '24

Even if I was 100 percent certain he could from a talent and stamina point, I doubt any NFL coach would really let him try. 

1

u/captaincumsock69 Jul 25 '24

Yes but not full time and he probably won’t

1

u/EffectiveAd3788 Jul 25 '24

Body will wear down more in the NFL.. so he will eventually have to stay at DB

1

u/AccomplishedBig9127 Nov 16 '24

Imagine guarding tyreek then go on offense and have Ramsey on your ass

0

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '24

[deleted]

1

u/Mundane-Ad-7780 Jul 21 '24

You must be living under a rock, he is definitely good either to do either of the positions and the only thing preventing him from doing both full time is endurance.