The NFL's future Shohei Ohtani: Travis Hunter

Can Travis Hunter be a two-way player in the NFL?

Travis Hunter played 129 total snaps in Colorado’s season opener again North Dakota State according to PFF — it would be his third most played snaps in a game since coming to Colorado (149 vs Stanford, 140 vs TCU). A majority came on the defensive side of the ball — 72 snaps (49 outside CB, 11 slot CB, 11 box player, 1 free safety) while having 57 snaps at wide receiver (52 outside, 5 slot). Hunter’s usage against NDSU tracks with what we saw in 2023 — Hunter played a total of 1,102 snaps in 2023 — 631 on defense, 475 on offense, and 32 on special teams, an average of 114.7 per game.

The only true comparison Hunter has right now is MLB’s Shohei Ohtani. From a two-way player sense at least. I joke because two way players are a rarity in sports due to the dedication and specialization factors needed to be elite at their craft. Ohtani became the most impactful two-way baseball player since Babe Ruth when he signed with the Angels in 2018. Ohtani was able to put up 9.2 (3.6 batting, 5.6 pitching) and 8.9 (6.5 batting, 2.4 pitching) fWAR seasons in 2022 and 2023, respectively thanks to the combined value of his skillsets before injuring his throwing arm late in 2023. Only Aaron Judge in 2022 and Ronald Acuna Jr. in 2023 accumulated more fWAR than Ohtani in those seasons.

Hunter will likely have to choose between wide receiver and cornerback in terms of what he plays full-time in the NFL. Football is a physically demanding sport and playing 120+ snaps a week against other grown men is not a recipe for sustaining a long career. Then there is the mental aspect of the game — learning two playbooks and being able to get enough reps at each position during the week seems extremely difficult. I’m not doubting him because Hunter has done so at the college level, but it does seem unlikely for this to continue in the NFL.

That doesn’t mean the team that drafts him should limit him to just one side of the ball, however. Clubs should get creative in their usage plans for Hunter.

The first step in managing Hunter as a two-way player is deciding the snap count split to avoid wear and tear. You want to maximize Hunter’s short- and long-term abilities. Wearing him into the ground in his first contract is not something a franchise should do. And I’m sure it’s something Hunter and his reps will fight against to protect his future earnings. Plus teams will want to keep him fresh throughout the season.

I think a 90/10 split would be a good starting point for Hunter to see if he needs to lower the reps or can handle more. With that 10% coming on critical downs on the other side of the ball that he chooses to play full-time.

In terms of role, Hunter could play one similar to how his Head Coach at Colorado, Deion Sanders, did for the Dallas Cowboys in 1996 — full-time CB and snaps at WR. Sanders was the NFL’s first full-time two-way player since Chuck Bednarik from 1949-62.

But I personally think Hunter should try going full-time at WR while playing high leverage downs at CB.

Here are my core reasons:

1. WR can make more of an impact by his offense designing plays to get him the ball

   1. Opposing offenses can choose to throw away from him at CB

2. CB play is higher variance year to year — making him a riskier pick potentially

3. I believe it would be easier from a mental load perspective to learn the entire playbook from an offensive standpoint and go play man on 3rd/4th down late in games than learning the defensive playbook and then learning the route nuances/distributions on offense.

   1. I’m simplifying this greatly, but I watched some plays of Troy Brown at nickel CB against the St. Louis Rams in 2004 after Ty Law and Tyrone Poole were out and Brown played well in man coverage. Anecdotal data point, but there aren’t many data points to begin with.

4. Bonus - elite WRs make more money than elite CBs

   1. From Hunter’s perspective this should be considered. Just look at all the WRs who signed extensions this off-season.

   2. Depending on how well he plays on the opposite side of the ball, he could earn additional millions to account for that value.

Hunter is a fun study and will be projected to go high in the 2025 NFL Draft no matter what Hunter or his future NFL team decides his role to be at the next level.