INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 27 (UPI) — Unprecedented is the norm for Travis Hunter and he doesn’t plan to reign in his abilities at the NFL level. The cornerback-wide receiver prospect said Thursday he will push back if NFL teams propose a one-position limit.
“I’m just a diehard for football,” Hunter said at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. “I love to compete.”
Hunter is a projected Top 5 selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, and he could be picked as high as No. 1 overall.
The former Colorado star consistently awed spectators throughout his collegiate career, often locking down opposing pass catchers and catching touchdown tosses as a wide receiver in the same game.
He lined up for more than 1,400 snaps in 2024 alone, eclipsing 100 in 13 of 15 games for the Buffaloes. He has nine of the Top 10 entries on the list of players with the most snaps in games last season.
For reference, the defender with the most snaps in the NFL last season logged about 71.6 per game. Hunter, who averaged more than 115 per game, pointed to his strength training and recovery regimens. He also detailed for NFL teams what those habits would look like at the next level.
He was tight-lipped about the teams with whom he met, but is widely expected to land with the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, New England Patriots or Jacksonville Jaguars, who have Top-5 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. He said his dream is to be the No. 1 pick.
“Nobody has done it, but I feel like I put my body through a lot,” Hunter said of playing both positions. “I do a lot of treatment. People don’t get to see that part, what I do for my body to make sure I’m 100% each game.
“But I feel like I can do it, even though nobody has done it. I know I can do it. I did it at the college level where … we rarely get breaks and there are a lot more breaks in the NFL.”
Cold tubs, hot tubs, red light therapy, cryotherapy and hyperbaric chambers are all part of his recovery routine, keeping his body strong enough to weather the grind of the gridiron.
Despite the taxing toll of hits and exertion on his 6-foot-1, 185-pound frame, Hunter said he doesn’t remember the last time he was physically exhausted.
“It doesn’t happen very often because I put my body through so much during the week,” Hunter said. “I know how to treat my body and know what my body needs to be ready.”
The Heisman Trophy winner, who sometimes is compared to two-way baseball star Shohei Ohtani, believes his feats are more difficult than those of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher/hitter.
Ohtani, regarded as one of the best players in baseball history, also parlayed his versatility into one of the most lucrative careers of all time.
Hunter’s ability to excel at multiple possessions prompts the question whether he could one day be paid like two players in one, especially after others previously stated their cases to be paid based on snaps played at other positions.
But the young playmaker said he hasn’t yet thought about a new financial precedent.
And although he said he would push back on a mandate to play only one position, Hunter concedes that the final call will not be his to make.
“I would hope for them to let me go out there and earn the position, but it’s up to them, not me,” Hunter said.
Hunter plans to skip workouts in Indianapolis in favor of Big 12 pro day next month in Frisco, Texas. But there is already plenty of tape available, showing No. 12 flying around on both sides of the ball.
When pressed about his future role Thursday during his combine news conference, Hunter had a simple reply:
“I can get the ball in the end zone.”
