Giants See Double Vaue in Colorado's Travis Hunter

Colorado draft prospect Travis Hunter is something special. You might say that he is a unicorn, given that he not only plays on both sides of the ball at cornerback and wide receiver, but he also does so at a high enough level. It’s that type of athletic prowess combined with elite production that has teams at the top of the draft dreaming of ways they might be able to deploy the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, including the New York Giants, who, while not assured of having Hunter land in their laps with the third overall pick, have no doubt allowed themselves to envision ways he could help the football team.

“He's fun to watch,” said Giants general manager Joe Schoen of Hunter. “It's unique, the ball skills, the route ability, and the ability to go to the other side and play corner. You don't see that very often.



” No, you don’t. As a receiver, Hunter posted 153 receptions for 1,979 yards and 20 touchdowns in two seasons with the Buffaloes. His 96 catches in 2024 led the Big 12.

As a cornerback, he recorded 66 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, seven interceptions, 16 pass breakups, and a forced fumble on his way to earning the Chuck Bednarik Award (Defensive Player of the Year), The Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, and All-American honors. Playing both sides of the ball in college is one thing, but doing so full-time at the NFL is another. While Schoen repeatedly said that he wouldn’t doubt Hunter’s ability or willingness to continue playing both sides full-time in the NFL, he pointed out that the NFL level is much different from college, which could make Hunter’s desire to play both ways a challenge.

“You're always worried about the length of the season, with the NFL 17 games and training camp,” Schoen said. “If he gets hurt doing something he's not doing full-time, you'll kick yourself.” Then there are the complexities involved.

“To me, what will have to be settled is the mental part of it because the offense is very hard to learn. And then the defense is on a weekly basis; it's not college anymore where, ‘Hey, these are our basic plays; this is our basic defense. We're going to play Cover 3 against Kansas.

We're going to play Cover 3 against Nebraska.’ “There's a lot more week-to-week matchup type stuff that our coaches are doing. Just how much can you handle mentally, where you can go out there and execute and they can trust you to do your job?” But, Schoen reiterated, he wouldn’t doubt Hunter’s willingness to pour himself into doing whatever it took to be out there.

And if he were to come to the Giants with the third overall pick, where would he best fit in, considering the Giants already have three receivers–Malik Nabers, Darius Slayton, and Wan’Dale Robinson–who would be ahead of him on offense and two veteran cornerbacks, Paulson Adebo and Deonte Banks, who would be ahead of him on defense? Schoen wouldn’t confirm reports that the Giants view Hunter as more of a cornerback, but he did say, “I would not be afraid to play him on both sides of the ball.” In what ways would be up to the coaching staff? It's a challenge they’ll be happy to accept if Hunter lands with the team next Thursday night. JOIN US ON SOCIAL MEDIA! Follow and like us on Facebook .

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