NFL GM with Top 3 pick willing to take risk on Travis Hunter's dual position plan

Travis Hunter's future in the NFL has been one of the biggest storylines heading into the Draft. The Jackson State and Colorado standout was college football's first true two-way star, but speculation has run rampant about whether he'd be allowed to do so in the pros.

Now, one team has said they'd be willing to give him the chance.

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen told reporters on Wednesday that he'd be more than happy to give Hunter the chance to show what he can do on both sides of the ball, according to ESPN's Jordan Raanan.

"We would not be afraid to play him on both sides of the ball," Joe Schoen said Wednesday during his annual pre-draft news conference.

Schoen admitted it would be "difficult" for Hunter to do both, given the physical demands of both positions.

"We're looking at the workloads and the yardage each day and then to me what we will have to be settled is the mental part of it because offense is very hard to learn and then the defense on a weekly basis, it's not college anymore where, hey, these are our basic plays, this is our basic defense and we're going to go play cover three against Kansas, we're going to play cover three against Nebraska," Schoen said. "There's a lot more week-to-week matchup type stuff that our coaches are doing. So just how much can you handle mentally where you can go out there and execute and they can trust you to do your job."

Hunter is widely viewed as a potential all-pro by scouts at both wide receiver and cornerback, but there's been plenty of concern about the idea of him playing both roles consistently in the NFL. The general consensus is that his future is brightest as a cornerback, but Hunter has consistently expressed a desire to play both ways in the pros, going so far as to say he'd retire if he was drafted by a team who wouldn't let him try.

Schoen has often said throughout the process that the Giants would be hard-pressed to pass on a generational talent, and given what Hunter's trying to do, he certainly fits the bill.

"Yeah, I wouldn't doubt the kid. He's that type of athlete," Schoen said. "He's had that type of production, the number of snaps he plays in a game, doesn't sit down, goes over, gets a drink of water and gets back out on the field."

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NFL GM with Top 3 pick in NFL Draft willing to take historic risk on Travis Hunter, dual position demand

By Sam Westmoreland | Apr 16, 2025