The Cleveland Browns won’t stand in the way of Travis Hunter contributing on both sides of the ball if they select him with the No. 2 overall pick — but they’ll be smart about how they use him.
Hunter became a household name at Colorado, playing nearly every snap with unmatched efficiency. He made history as the first player to win both the Chuck Bednarik Award, given to the nation’s top defensive player, and the Fred Biletnikoff Award, honoring the best wide receiver. His two-way dominance also earned him the ultimate honor in college football — the Heisman Trophy.
Hunter is the favorite to be selected with the No. 2 pick. He expressed during a recent interview with CBS Sports that he’d rather not play football than be limited to one role.
“It’s never playing football again,” Hunter said. “Because I’ve been doing it my whole life and I love being on the football field. I feel like I could dominate on each side of the ball, so I really enjoy doing it.”
Browns Will be ‘Smart’ With Travis Hunter
Browns general manager Andrew Berry addressed the idea of Hunter playing both ways if he indeed lands in Cleveland. He sounded open to it, with some restrictions.
“One of the things that is you can’t probably fully appreciate until you actually see Travis play live is just his elite conditioning,” Berry said. “Going out and seeing him play at Colorado, he really never comes off the field and it’s unbelievable because there are more plays in a college game than there is a pro game. The guy, he barely pants. So it’s quite incredible. That being said, what he would attempt to do has not been really done in our league, but we wouldn’t necessarily put a cap or a governor in terms of what he could do. We would want to be smart in terms of how we started him out.”
The Browns need help at wide receiver but less so at cornerback. Cleveland already has Denzel Ward and Martin Emerson Jr. holding down their cornerback spots, with former first-round pick Greg Newsome also in the mix. At receiver, Jerry Jeudy is coming off his first Pro Bowl campaign but Hunter would likely be a significant contributor from Day 1.
“I’ve mentioned before we would see his first home as receiver and his second home on defense,” he said. “One of the big things. He has a number of rare qualities, but probably the rarest is his ability with the ball, his ball skills. We would want to put him in a position that maximizes that ability.”
Browns Compare Travis Hunter to Shohei Ohtani
The Browns got an up-close look at Hunter during his Pro Day and also took him out to dinner to get to know his personality off the field. Berry has likened Hunter’s two-way ability to Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani.
“It’s a little bit like Ohtani, right?” Berry said. “Where when he’s playing one side, he’s an outstanding player. If he’s a pitcher, if he’s a hitter, he is an outstanding player. You obviously get a unicorn if you use him both ways.”
Hunter is the favorite but there are other directions the Browns could go. That includes Penn State pass-rusher Abdul Carter, or eyeing a quarterback like Shedeur Sanders.
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