Travis Hunter Is Convinced He Can Be A Two-Way Player 100 Percent Of The Time In The NFL

INDIANAPOLIS – Let's agree Travis Hunter is confident. Like, unapologetically so.

"Everybody knows I can light up a room just by walking in," the Heisman Trophy winner told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine on Thursday. "I always have a smile on my face. I bring the excitement and I'm a great communicator."

Travis Hunter won the 2024 Heisman Trophy 

Hunter Wants To Remain A Two-Way Player

And it's from that perspective that you might begin to understand why Hunter thinks he can do something no other NFL player is currently doing, and no NFL player has done, dating back to the days of leather helmets:

Play 100 percent of the downs in games while playing both on offense and defense.

"I've been doing it for a long time, so, I feel like I can keep doing it," Hunter said.

As comments from draft prospects at this combine trained to say the right, polite, confident thing, go, this one is seismic. 

Because Hunter is coming with a vision and goal no one else in memory has brought to teams, and he's doing it with a certain believable determination and certainty.

"I'm going to play both," Hunter said.

Dec 14, 2024; New York, NY, USA; Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter with head coach Deion Sanders after winning the 2024 Heisman Trophy. Mandatory Credit: Todd Van Emst/Heisman Trust via Imagn Images

Some Players Have Dabble In Playing Both Ways

And this is where we remind you, his coach at Colorado Deion Sanders, played both ways as a receiver and cornerback in the NFL. But his time as a receiver was limited.

J.J. Watt played on offense and defense, but his time on offense was limited to a handful of plays per game. Same with Mike Vrabel, Julian Edelman and Troy Brown in New England. Same with William "Refridgerator" Perry in Chicago.

They were all position players on one side of the ball that dabbled in playing on the other side.

Hunter is talking about playing every snap at receiver. And every snap in the secondary.

Every snap.

How?

"That's not my job to figure it out," he said. "I like to play both sides of the ball. If they give me the opportunity to play both sides of the ball, I'm going to play both sides.

"I mean, nobody has done it but I feel like I put my body through a lot. I do a lot of treatment. People don't get to see that part when I'm doing something with my body to make sure I'm 100 percent each game. But I feel I can do it because nobody has done it. And I know I can do it.

"I did it at the college level which the game is we rarely get breaks. And it's a lot more breaks in the NFL."

Dec 28, 2024; San Antonio, TX, USA; Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) runs with the ball as Brigham Young Cougars cornerback Mory Bamba (4) attempts to make a tackle during the second quarter at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Teams Talking About Hunter Playing One Spot

Hunter said he met with some teams here that were focused on him being a wide receiver. And he met with teams focused on him as a defensive back. 

"It's still up in the air," he said.

They say, "nobody has ever done it for real the way I do it.' But I tell them, ‘I’m just different. I'm a different person."

This is going to be interesting.

And what you should probably expect is Hunter being selected anywhere in the top 5 or so picks and then being asked to learn one side of the ball as a rookie. And perhaps when coaches feel comfortable with that, he'll start getting work on the other side of the ball.

And when/if coaches feel comfortable with all that, then Hunter might become a full-time two-way player.

Like Hunter said, it's not his job to figure out.