Travis Hunter’s NFL position is the great draft debate. Do you think he’s a CB, WR, or both?

Let’s fight about Travis Hunter’s best position in the NFL

What position will Travis Hunter Jr. play at the next level? It’s one of the most fascinating questions in the 2025 NFL Draft class, which is right around the corner.

The two-way standout shined as both a wide receiver and a cornerback during his collegiate days, securing Heisman Trophy honors along the way. However, life in the NFL is different, and the combination of specialization and limited practice rules may force Hunter to focus on one side of the football.

Which side should that be?

There is evidence to support either position. Hunter’s film highlights his ability as a cornerback, but the folks at Reception Perception tracked his success as a wide receiver and their metrics showcase Hunter’s status as an elite WR prospect.

Is Hunter a CB or a WR at the next level? Let’s discuss.

Travis Hunter is a WR in the NFL — James Dator

There’s nobody in this draft class like Travis Hunter. Heck, modern football hasn’t seen anything like him in the last 20 years. To be clear: Hunter can easily play WR and CB in the NFL, and I do think whoever drafts him will use him in both capacities — but receiver should come first.

The reasoning for this is fairly simple: Elite wide receivers win games. If we look at the 2024 season there’s a direct correlation between having elite players at the receiver spot and having playoff success. Justin Jefferson made Sam Darnold’s life easy. A.J. Brown created impact plays for the Eagles. Meanwhile the best corners in the league made tremendous individual impacts, but Sauce Garner didn’t generate wins for the Jets, neither did Garrett Williams for the Cardinals.

We mentioned the Reception Perception breakdown earlier, but it helps to visualize exactly how dominant Travis Hunter was using the entire route tree at Colorado.

Basically he wins everywhere on offense. There is an incredibly high level of football IQ to how he plays the receiver position with his footwork, crispness, and body feints he uses to throw off defensive backs, and his elite athleticism makes him deadly after the catch. You essentially have a player who knows all the trappings of playing corner, and uses those to hone his abilities as a pass catcher.

Hunter will be selected in the Top 5 of this draft class. He will be going to a bad team, that much is certain. The shared DNA of these teams is that they lacked impact players on offense. It’s here where Travis Hunter can win on day one.

Lance Zierlein of NFL.com has his player comparisons as DeVonta Smith as a receiver, and Darius Slay as a cornerback. That is one hell of a combo, but ask teams around the league who they would rather have and they’d all say Smith in this scenario.

It’s not an either/or case with Hunter. You get the best of both worlds. However, the best immediate impact he can has is as a pass catcher, and that’s why it should be his primary position upon entering the NFL.

Travis Hunter is a CB in the NFL — JP Acosta

Travis Hunter is one of the most unique prospects in recent memory. He would be WR1 and CB1 in this draft class, but I think in the NFL he’s at his best as a corner who can play some snaps at receiver. Albert Breer reported that when Hunter was at Colorado, he was in defensive meetings as a defensive back, which is something I think will be mimicked at the NFL level. There’s just so much more that goes into a defensive gameplan that makes it almost impossible to just throw someone out there who wasn’t in the meetings the week leading up to the game. It’s a lot easier to put someone in at receiver and tell them what route to run than it is to put someone at cornerback and give them the coverage and the checks for it.

As for on the field, I think Hunter’s greatest traits and abilities are best served as a cornerback than at receiver. Some of his best plays are instinctively in zone coverage jumping underneath routes or baiting quarterbacks into throwing dangerous passes in zone coverage. His ball skills are better served on the defensive side of the ball, tilting the field with interceptions and pass breakups. It’s so rare to find cornerbacks that you can just forget about one side of the field because they’re on it, while it seems like every year there’s a new elite receiver entering the league. Hunter could step into the league and be one of the better DBs in the NFL at the end of his first year if he plays cornerback full time.

Travis Hunter is what his team needs the most in the NFL — Mark Schofield

The correct answer here might come down to where Hunter lands.

Consider two teams at the top of the draft, each with a chance to draft the dynamic two-way player: The New York Giants at No. 3, and the New England Patriots at No. 4.

Entering the offseason the Patriots had a number of positions to address, including wide receiver and cornerback. The Patriots addressed both, adding Carlton Davis early in free agency and putting pen to paper on a deal with Stefon Diggs earlier this week.

On the defensive side of the football that will see Davis pair with young Christian Gonzalez, a tremendous one-two punch in the secondary. But questions remain in New England’s wide receiver room, even with the addition of Diggs. The Patriots drafted both Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker a year ago, but the two combined for fewer than 100 yards receiving last year.

New England might need Hunter more as a receiver than a corner.

Then there are the Giants, who added Paulson Adebo at corner and Jevon Holland at safety in free agency, but could also upgrade the CB spot across from Adebo. Meanwhile, with Malik Nabers and Darius Slayton, the Giants have some solid options in the WR room.

In New York, Hunter might land as a CB, with Brian Daboll free to use him on a package of plays on the offensive side of the football.

That is another aspect to this question that may see Hunter land as a CB, as discussed above. It is easier to control his usage if his is primarily a corner, with a package of plays on offense, than he is as a full-time WR with a package of plays on defense. In the first situation you can control when he is in the game on offense, and are not dependent upon down-and-distance dictating when he is in the game, as would be the case if he was a sub-package CB.

Sound off with your take in the comments!