People say there’s no generational prospect in the 2025 NFL draft, and that statement typically launches directly into a diatribe about the overuse of the word “generational” around draft season. And both things are true: there isn’t a generational prospect in this draft, and we do water-down superlatives like “generational” way too much.

But there is a generational TALENT in this class, and his name is Travis Hunter. Of course Hunter, who’s a practical lock to be drafted in the top-5 in April, plays both sides of the ball. All throughout college, he was a starting wide receiver AND a starting cornerback. Now, is he the best receiver or corner we’ve seen in recent memory? No. He’s a fantastic blue chip prospect, but he’s not a generational prospect.

His ability to play both sides of the ball at an elite level, however? And to do so at a full workload of cardio both ways? THAT IS a generational TALENT. We never see a player who can do what he does. It’s extremely unique.

But because he plays both ways, and did so as a full-time starter at both positions in college, there’s an inevitable narrative nightmare on the horizon for whichever team drafts him. And it has everything to do with the hottest topic circling Hunter this draft cycle: how will he be used in the NFL?

In 2024, Travis Hunter averaged roughly 115 total snaps per game. That’s a full starters workload of 50-60 snaps on both offense and defense. A player with that number of snaps is basically never coming off the field at their position. A lot remains to be seen about how Hunter will be used at the next level. But while his cardio ability is unquestionable, one thing is for certain: he won’t be seeing that same amount of work on whichever professional team he plays for.

Again, it’s not even necessarily that he COULDN’T do it. Although, the speed, strength, and physicality at the next level truly is a different beast. So even he would probably struggle with it at times. But the real reasons he’s going to play less are deeper than that. For starters, the man weights in the neighborhood of 170lbs. This is the NFL we’re talking about. He’s too valuable a player to be responsibly exposed to that much wear and tear over the course of the season. His injury risk, not to mention the shortening of his career long-term, would be significant. No team is going to do that. Will he play a lot? Absolutely. Perhaps more total snaps than anybody on his team eventually. But while his ceiling for total snaps in college was 149 against Stanford last year, I’d think his NFL ceiling will be around half of that.

So where is this nightmare? What’s the problem? Well, the inevitable talking point will be the scrutinization of his deployment in retrospect.

This is so predictable because we already see it with regular stars on a regular basis. How many times have you heard on Monday morning radio a host going on about why the starting defensive line rotation wasn’t on the field for a critical red zone play that resulted in a rushing touchdown? How many times have you read an article about the receiver group that was on the field when the QB threw a backbreaking interception? Titans fans will remember in consecutive years of playoff losses, the games basically ended with a Ryan Tannehill interception intended for Kalif Raymond against the Ravens and a Ryan Tannehill interception intended for a pre-breakout Nick Westbrook-Ikhine against the Bengals. Why these players were the targets, and why they were on the field instead of “blank” were questions that we asked for days and weeks afterwards.

So what do you reckon will happen when a team has to first decide which positions Hunter will primarily play, and then decide how much they’ll rotate him in on either side of the ball? It’s liable to be a Monday-morning-quarterback’s dream! It seems more likely that if Hunter is used on both sides of the ball, it will be easier to have him primarily play defense and moonlight on offense. While some think he’s a better receiver than he is a corner, it’s just logistically more practical to rotate a receiver in on key plays than to rotate a cornerback. Having your best corner on the field for every snap of defense is significantly more important than having your best receiver on the field for every snap of offense. Whichever way it plays out, whenever something goes wrong without him on the field, his absence in that package is liable to be a question the team is asked over and over. While the answer is a simple matter of player management, it won’t be one that’s let go easily by fans.

So just play him on one side of the ball, you may be thinking to yourself. That does seem like the easy fix to all of this, doesn’t it. But unfortunately, I’m not sure that it is. For starters, you’re robbing yourself as a team of a player’s full potential. But more important to this discussion about the narrative: you’re robbing fans of it too, and they’re going to know it. The cat is already out of the bag on this. Every fan of Hunter’s team is going to know he is simultaneously one of their best receivers AND one of their best cornerbacks. Perhaps THE best, depending on the team, the side of the ball, and injuries.

If you’re a fan of any team long enough, you can relate to this brand of chatter on the offensive line. Titans fans all remember drafting Peter Skoronski, a stud tackle in college, who became the starting left guard. And every Titans fan knows that through the turmoil Tennessee has endured with their tackle positions, calls to put Peter out there rang out for a very long time. “We’ve seen him do it!” everybody reasoned.

Take that and dial it up to 10 for Hunter. Because unlike Skoronski, who can be dismissed as lacking the necessary length and development to play tackle now, the only excuse with Hunter will be load management. Because we HAVE all seen him do what he can do on both sides of the ball. He’s fantastic!

The bottom line is this: the team who lands Travis Hunter at the top of the draft might quickly discover both the blessing and the curse of having such a versatile player on your team.

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