• Unique expertise: Travis Hunter is among the few gamers in current NFL historical past who has a respectable likelihood to be nice on each side of the ball within the NFL.
• Cornerback could also be his finest match: Hunter’s measurables, PFF’s wins above substitute and play model point out a major position as a nook would yield the very best return on funding.
• Unlock your edge with a PFF+ subscription: Get full entry to all of our in-season fantasy instruments, together with weekly rankings, WR/CB matchup charts, weekly projections, the Start-Sit Optimizer and extra. Sign up now!
Estimated studying time: 10 minutes
It appears like we simply had this dialogue, however with Colorado’s Travis Hunter as soon as once more placing on a present as each a receiver and cornerback this season, I needed to take a good deeper dive into the place he may and will play within the NFL with some PFF-centric information factors.
Three video games into the 2024 season, Hunter has recorded 30 receptions for 332 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns at receiver whereas forcing two incompletions, hauling in an interception and permitting simply 81 receiving yards at cornerback. He has performed 202 snaps on protection and 181 snaps on offense. At nook, he has earned an 84.3 protection grade, and as a receiver, he’s sitting with an 82.3 offensive grade.
He’s a top-five prospect on PFF’s 2025 massive board, however the place do you play him within the NFL? He performs two positions now, and if he can play each within the NFL, maybe there would not should be a debate. Nonetheless, he’ll possible have to decide on one or the opposite.
Colorado lists Hunter at 6-foot-1 and 185 kilos. As a large receiver, that may rank within the forty eighth and fifteenth percentiles within the NFL, however as a cornerback, his top and weight would land within the 71st and nineteenth percentiles. Therefore, his measurement is extra akin to an NFL cornerback relatively than a receiver.
But what concerning the worth of the positions themselves? For that, PFF has a wins above substitute (WAR) metric we will lean on.
In 2023, Charvarius Ward earned the very best WAR rating for an NFL cornerback at 1.01 as a consequence of excessive single protection and stable run-defense grades. Darious Williams, Jaylon Johnson, Trent McDuffie and Sauce Gardner all earned scores above 0.80 to spherical out the highest 5. Over the final 5 years, Jalen Ramsey has the very best WAR common at that place at 0.58. There are three different corners who’ve WAR averages above 0.50 in that point — Ward, Jaire Alexander and Kendall Fuller – Jamel Dean barely missed that cutoff at 0.49.
As for broad receivers, CeeDee Lamb recorded the very best WAR rating in 2023 at 0.65. From a five-year pattern measurement from 2019-2023, Davante Adams has the very best common rating at 0.49. Justin Jefferson and Tyreek Hill are the one different receivers to have a mean rating above 0.40.
Now, what does this imply? The WAR scores usually are not meant to let you know that, as skills, cornerbacks are higher than broad receivers. However, it does assist contextualize worth at sure positions and the shortage that will exist with top-tier play inside every place as nicely.
In less complicated phrases: There are extra proficient NFL broad receivers who’re able to nice manufacturing than there are cornerbacks – or, at the least, it’s simpler to get a collective of receivers to match nice manufacturing than it’s with corners.
It’s like that quote from “Moneyball: when Billy Beane, performed by Brad Pitt, says “You’re nonetheless attempting to exchange [Jason] Giambi. I advised you we won’t do it, and we won’t do it. Now, what we would be capable to do is re-create him. Recreate him within the combination.”
WAR tells us that it’s simpler to recreate high receiver manufacturing within the combination than it’s to exchange top-tier manufacturing at cornerback. Maybe the opposite receivers within the league can’t do it fairly like Hill or Jefferson, however as a collective, it is doable. Nonetheless, no quantity of receivers can equal Hill’s pace, for instance, so there may be definitely nuance at play right here. Corners and receivers even have completely different alignments and roles and thus “changing” manufacturing is completely different – protection specialties, match right into a defensive scheme, or how they win as a receiver, for instance.
There can be a component of highs and lows right here. Though the highs of nice cornerback play are notable, as you possibly can see within the WAR scores, the distinction between that high rating in a single season and the very best averages over a five-year span is about half. This factors out how risky cornerbacks might be, whereas receiver success is mostly extra constant.
So after we speak about a participant like Travis Hunter, there may be some nuance, after all, however on a stage aircraft, his worth at cornerback does appear to trump his worth at receiver, particularly given his takeaway potential (ball abilities) and single protection potential.
We also needs to speak about contracts, as contracts can be an indicator of worth – NFL house owners sometimes don’t lie with their checkbooks. Jalen Ramsey simply signed a deal to change into the highest-paid cornerback within the NFL with a mean wage of $24.1 million per 12 months. Justin Jefferson is presently the highest-paid broad receiver within the NFL with a $35 million common. When it involves ensures, Denzel Ward has probably the most absolutely assured cash of any cornerback at $44.5 million whereas at receiver, Jefferson has probably the most absolutely assured at $88.7 million. Stacked up in opposition to each other, Ramsey’s $24.1 million per 12 months would rank thirteenth as a receiver, and Ward’s $44.5 absolutely assured would rank seventh.
To wrap all this up, Hunter is a extra distinctive expertise at cornerback, so he needs to be drafted as such. However, he’s ok to play each methods within the NFL, simply possibly not full time he does now. Maximizing his skills on each side of the ball can be extra believable if he is drafted as a nook. A world can exist the place he can hone his craft as a nook whereas enjoying spot responsibility on offense each week. However, if he was drafted as a receiver, I believe he could be nice, however barring an harm, I don’t see him substituting in for a handful of cornerback snaps each week.
I don’t assume there’s a “incorrect” reply right here. Hunter is so rattling good that he may thrive at both. However, by way of the place his highest worth would lie, measurables, WAA, and play model would inform us a major position as a nook would yield the very best return on funding.