Colorado star Travis Hunter has shown to be able to excel on both sides of the ball at the collegiate level for a full season. But can he replicate this at the NFL level?
That is the question countless NFL front offices are asking themselves, just weeks ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft.
We have seen the likes of Deion Sanders star on the defensive side of the ball while taking snaps offensively on a limited basis. But to be both a full-time offensive and defensive player is simply unheard of at the NFL level.
It’s unclear if whatever team ends up selecting Hunter, who played both wide receiver and cornerback at Colorado, will even attempt to use him as a full-time dual threat on both sides of the ball.
But regardless, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has questions about whether that possibility is something Hunter could do right away in the NFL.
When speaking with reporters on Monday, Vrabel outlined how he believes Hunter could star at the NFL level if he “concentrated” on one position in particular.
“We’ve never seen a player necessarily do it,” Vrabel said, via Chad Graff of TheAthletic.com. “I think there’s some things he can improve on by probably concentrating on just one position. But never going to put any restrictions on Travis or any player. We try as much as they can handle. We’re going to continue to put more on their plate. If he were on our football team and showed great skill at one position and started to really do well in his conditioning, and it didn’t fall and didn’t drop off, we would be open to playing everybody we had at more than one position.”
Vrabel obviously starred as a linebacker for 14 seasons in the NFL. But he somewhat knows what it takes to make impact plays on both sides of the ball in his own right, on a much lesser scale than Hunter would be doing.
Notably, Vrabel caught ten touchdown passes over the course of his career as an occasional receiving option.
Only time will tell what is in store for Hunter when it comes to his versatility to play both wide receiver and cornerback. But clearly, if the Patriots are the team that ends up selecting Hunter with their No. 4 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, he will likely be playing just one position for the most part.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.