One of the biggest questions from the NFL Draft this year is whether the team that picks top prospect Travis Hunter will use him as a wide receiver or a cornerback, but is there a third position the former Colorado star could line up as? At the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Hunter was seen throwing passes to other prospects.
When asked if there’s anything he can’t do, Hunter revealed he can even play special teams.
“I can do everything for real. I can do anything in a football field,” Hunter said, adding that he can kick “a little bit” and prefers place kicking over punting. “… I’m definitely different. I’m one of a kind. I call myself a unicorn.”
Hunter was officially listed as a defensive back at the combine, but he wasn’t happy that he was being put in one box, as he was a true two-way player in college.
“First thing I did was text my agent and say, ‘Why am I listed as just a cornerback’ and he texted me ‘We didn’t say nothing, we didn’t say anything about it.’ We got that fixed real fast,” Hunter explained.
The 21-year-old told CBS Sports HQ that he will not work do drills at the combine, but is taking interviews with teams. His first meeting with a team came as a wide receiver and he maintains that he has no preference of position.
Teams have varying views of what Hunter could be in the NFL. The Tennessee Titans, who have the No. 1 pick, see him as a cornerback, the Cleveland Browns, who have the No. 2 pick, see him as a wide receiver and the team with the No. 4 pick, the New England Patriots, see a world where he could play both.
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel jabs Travis Hunter, tells prospect he’s ‘not the only one to play two ways’
Tyler Sullivan
Hunter says the teams he’s met with “think I can do everything,” and he emphasized that his plan is to “go in there and work for it.” The Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year says he isn’t setting his mind to just play one position and wherever the team who drafts him initially puts him, he will fight to play the other position as well.
“If they say I’m coming in as a corner, I’m gonna say can I work for receiver,” he said.
When it comes to cornerback, what attracts him to the position is “being able to take the ball away and shut down the best receiver on the football field,” while as a wide receiver he likes “being able to put the ball in the end zone.”
The Heisman Trophy winner played 713 snaps on offense and 748 snaps on defense, but playing full-time at both positions in the NFL is less likely than doing it at the collegiate level. Hunter is confident, however, that he can handle any workload he is given.
“I can play all of them if they give me the opportunity to play all of them,” Hunter said when asked how many snaps he believes he can realistically take in Week 1 of the regular season.
While it is a lofty goal, Hunter said earlier in the week that he’s “just different.”
In college, what helped Hunter play both was that he got a lot of treatment and always got his “body right” so he was ready for the next opportunity. He plans to do the same in the pros.
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