Travi’s Hunter has emphasized his desire to play both broad receivers and Cornerback in the NFL, and it seems that New York Giants are willing to make that desire to reality if the Heisman Trophy winner falls to them at No. 3 in next week’s NFL draft.
When he spoke during his annual news conference before the draft on Wednesday, New York General Manager Joe Schoen said that Giants “would not be afraid” to set up Hunter on both sides of the ball.
Schoen said “I would not doubt the child. He is the kind of athlete. He has had the kind of production, the number of snaps he plays in a game, does not sit down, go over, get a drink water and come back out into the field.
“So he has that kind of athletics, he has the right way of thinking, he is a fantastic child. So I would not doubt him.”
While NFL managers have said that Hunter could develop into a Pro Bowl player in either position, Hunter made headlines earlier this week when he said he would never play football again if a team told him he could not play both broad receivers and Cornerback.
“Because I have done it all my life,” Hunter told CBS Sports, “and I love being on the football field. I feel I could dominate on each side of the ball, so I really enjoy doing it.”
Of course, much of the concern for Hunter who plays both ways comes from the higher workload. With Colorado Buffaloes last year, Hunter played in over 84 percent of the team’s snaps. For perspective, according to ESPN, Cornerback Dane Jackson played 48% of Carolina Panther’s total snaps last season, which was the most in the NFL.
“We look at the workload and the garden every day,” Schoen said, “and then for me what we have to be decided is the mental part of it, because crime is very difficult to learn and then the defense every week, it is not college there,” Hello, this is our basic games, this is our basic defense and we will play 3 against the skate.
“There are many more things week to week-type that our coaches do. So how much can you manage mentally where you can go out there and drive and they can trust you to do your job.”
Whether Hunter is even available on No. 3 remains to be seen. Many experts believe that he is a must-have option for Cleveland Browns on No. 2 after Tennessee is assumed to choose Quarterback Cam Ward with the first total choice. In addition, New York will also have to decide if Hunter is the better choice of a top available quarterback. However, Schoen said that Giants “does not think it is mandatory” to choose a QB on No. 3 after adding Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston to the guard list together with Tommy Devito.
-Field level media
