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Travis Hunter has been blazing trails since his college commitment when he committed to D1 FCS Jackson State and at-the-time head coach Deion Sanders, flipping from Florida State and turning down every major program in the process. Then, he played both ways in college, first at Jackson State and then at Colorado, defying those that said he couldn’t play that many snaps a game at that level.
The 2024 Heisman Trophy winner will be one of the first few names off the board in next week’s 2025 NFL Draft. It sounds like that many teams want him to a be a full-time cornerback and play a few snaps a game at wide receiver, but former NFL quarterback and former NFL quarterback and now analyst Robert Griffin III is urging teams to let him play full-time both ways.
Hunter played an absurd 1,484 snaps in the 2024 season, catching 96 passes for 1,258 yards while making 36 tackles and picking off four passes as one of the best cover corners in college football. He won the Bednarik Award, given to the best defensive player in the country, and the Biletnikoff Award, given to the best wide receiver in the country.
NFL teams are understandably worried if he can put in the amount of preparation needed to play both sides of the ball in a league with more advanced schemes to the best of his ability. Many of them think having him play defense full-time with a package of 25 or so plays on offense would be the best way to utilize him. Playing full-time both ways over a seventeen game schedule could lead to injures, too.
Robert Griffin III disagrees.
Travis Hunter is best when he plays both WR and CB. It’s how he has always played. It’s how he gets into flow state on the football field. If you are an NFL team and you don’t play him at both positions full time, you are making a colossal mistake. He is sensational. Let him be.
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) April 15, 2025
Here’s where I stand. Travis Hunter is going to go in the top 5, and will be picked by a bad team. There’s no harm, in my opinion, of letting him try to play both ways his first season and seeing how it will work out. Those teams are probably going to be bad anyways! The reward far outweighs the risk.