Patriots coach Mike Vrabel played a little bit of offense in his 14 NFL seasons as a player, enough to score 10 receiving touchdowns. But he doesn’t know if Travis Hunter can play both sides of the ball in the NFL.
Hunter, the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner, played 688 defensive snaps and 672 on offense last season and is adamant about remaining a two-way player in the NFL.
“We’ve never seen a player necessarily do it,” Vrabel said, via Chad Graff of TheAthletic.com. “I think there’s some things he can improve on by probably concentrating on just one position. But never going to put any restrictions on Travis or any player. We try as much as they can handle. We’re going to continue to put more on their plate. If he were on our football team and showed great skill at one position and started to really do well in his conditioning, and it didn’t fall and didn’t drop off, we would be open to playing everybody we had at more than one position.”
Some teams see Hunter as a better wide receiver, but most have him as a cornerback to start.
The Patriots have the fourth overall pick, so at least one prospect among Hunter, left tackle Will Campbell and edge rusher Abdul Carter is expected to be there for the taking.
Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik was the last true two-way player in the NFL, and he finished his career in 1962. Deion Sanders, Hunter’s coach at Colorado, was a returner in addition to his full-time role as a cornerback and played a little wide receiver.
In 1996 with the Cowboys, Sanders caught 36 passes for 475 yards and a touchdown in addition to earning Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors at corner.
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