Travis Hunter Makes Case to Giants, Rest of NFL for Playing Both Sides of the Ball

The two-way Heisman Trophy winner and top draft prospect is determined to show his NFL suitors, including the Giants, he can do the unthinkable at the highest level.

Feb 27, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Colorado defensive back Travis Hunter (DB15) during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. / Tanner Pearson-Imagn Images

In the 74-year history of the NFL Draft, the latest of which is set to be held in Green Bay, Wisconsin this April, there have been a lot of special prospects who’ve gone on to change the game. But as far as Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter is concerned, he is more special than all of them. 

Like every other hopeful that has come before him, Hunter will be going through the exact same process required to eventually hear his name called by commissioner Roger Goodell in two months. 

That includes the scouting combine in Indianapolis, where he won’t perform but will meet with several teams whose picks are in reach to potentially accrue his gifted services. 

As he does that, including with the New York Giants who hold the No. 3 overall pick and could select him, depending on what happens with their pursuit of veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford, it’ll be done with the two letters “DB” on his hoodie signaling his role on the defensive side. 

However, it might as well be the first prospect garment to show two different positional acronyms on it, as the potential No. 1 overall selection has other plans in mind for his NFL future.

Believing he is truly a one of one athlete that will ever grace the sport, Hunter is ready to prove it to those coaching staffs who might want to partner with him that he can make an impact on both sides of the gridiron. 

"I'm going to play both," Hunter told the media on Thursday. "That's not my job to figure it out. I like to play both sides of the ball. If they give me the opportunity on both sides of the ball, I'll play both sides."

Travis Hunter wants to play WR and CB in the league. 👀

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Hunter means every word of his opening declaration to the league because it’s the unbelievable resume he built for himself at the college level with Colorado. The 21-year-old two-way prospect from South rode his dual threat abilities to a Heisman Trophy-winning season like one that nobody has ever seen before, finishing top five in the nation in major stats as a wide receiver and defensive ballhawk. 

Those included 94 career receptions for 1,258 yards (13.1 average) and 15 touchdowns in the air on the offensive end and 85 total tackles (62 solo), four interceptions and 15 pass deflections in Colorado’s secondary. His snaps added up to 1,483 by the end of his stint with the school, with the majority split between the first two phases of the game. 

By amassing those incredible numbers, Hunter placed himself into rarified air in the Division I history books and now knows he will have NFL franchises eager to try to replicate that story at the next level. 

"I definitely feel like I stamped myself [in college football history]," Hunter said. "I have some of the top awards and the biggest award in college football."

"I've got my own unique play style. I play both sides of the ball. Not that many people in the NFL have done it."

What has allowed him the opportunity to become the sport’s first ironman is his immense dedication and display of discipline towards the game, both things he was emboldened to breed further while at the University of Colorado with head coach Deion Sanders.

Oct 19, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Colorado Buffalos wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) with head coach Deion Sanders against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Hunter remarked on how Sanders let him have full control over how he took care of his body and prepared himself to dominate the competition on  a weekly basis. He also mentioned how the coach knew from the moment he recruited Hunter that the young man would become one of the first players to ever impact his team in both directions. 

"Nobody has done it [in the NFL], but I feel like I've put my body through a lot," Hunter said. 

"I do a lot of treatment. People don't get to see that part, what I do for my body to make sure that I'm 100 percent each game. But I feel like I can do it because nobody has done it. I know I can do it. I did it at the college level, [where] we rarely get breaks. There's a lot more breaks in the NFL.

"I didn't have load management in Colorado, Coach Prime [Deion Sanders] pretty much let me do what I felt was right for my body. I'm the only person who knows what's right for my body. I did a lot of treatment, a lot of training. I always woke up early to get to where I needed to be."

Should the Giants have the luxury of spending their first draft selection on Hunter, it remains to be seen how they elect to use their stud acquisition who is taking meetings for both wide receiver and defensive back behind closed doors at the combine. 

If anything, the Giants could certainly favor his snaps in their already fragile secondary. The youth movement that Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll have tried to execute has not worked well in the last couple seasons, with injuries and inexperience being the biggest culprits against premier pass catching threats every Sunday. 

New York had some serious struggles in coverage once they had to go deeper into their very young ranks that featured either rookies or practice squad additions off of the street, as they finished 27th as a team in coverage grade and had only two cornerbacks finish with an individual grade above 70.0 last season. 

The good news is the only way is up from here and adding a prospect like Hunter would help fortify the depth chart, inserting another bonafide starter to line up with Deonte Banks on the outside and hopefully spearhead a better turnover production that was also among the worst in the league in 2024.  

Still, Hunter has deeper and more historic aspirations than that. He wants to find his name not only in the turnover column of his impending team’s gamebooks on Sundays. He wants to have it plastered in the endzone as he scampers across the goalline in abundance with the pigskin in his elite hands. 

He knows bargaining for that job will be much tougher at the NFL level when much more is invested into a player than just a high draft choice. He has his sales pitch ready though, and it’s up to the organization on the other side to believe in it once they hand in the card with his name on it at the draft. 

"They say nobody has ever done it for real the way I do it, but I tell them that I'm just different," Hunter said. "I'm a different person."

"Yeah, I would hope for them to let me go out there and earn the other position," he said. "But It's up to them, not me."

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