Everyone wants to know what position Travis Hunter will play in the NFL.
He himself has said he’ll retire if he doesn’t get to play both wide receiver and cornerback.
But there is a general assumption that, unlike at Colorado, Hunter won’t be on the field for literally every play. Probably on one side of the ball, there will be some sort of pitch count, and it very likely will be for the Cleveland Browns, who pick No. 2 overall on Thursday night.
Speaking of pitch counts: One person in the NFL recently compared Hunter to Braves legend Greg Maddux.
The Athletic spoke to anonymous NFL coaches to gauge what they think Hunter should do. And one defensive backs coach related Hunter’s pursuit to baseball pitching.
“It’s like the difference between a starting pitcher and a closer,” the coach said. “A corner is like a starting pitcher. He needs to amass reps throughout the entirety of a game. That’s when he’s rendered most effective. You’re not looking for him to get three outs in nine pitches. You need him to play the long game. Be willing to give up a hit here. Give up a walk to a guy there. Be willing for it to get sticky in certain situations.
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“When you play outside corner, that’s the parallel. It’s a long game. Get a feel for what routes you’re seeing and when they’re targeting guys. It’s very tough to just come into that. Greg Maddux couldn’t just come into the game in the eighth inning and get you three outs. Part of his genius is that he paints a whole picture. That’s the same way with a corner. You’ve got to paint the whole picture.”
The full article was split on Hunter’s future, but that defensive coach clearly wants Hunter to be a full-time defender.
It does make sense that coming in or out for certain plays on defense would be a little more frantic.
On the offensive side, a team can have specific Hunter packages that they run, and being off the field for a few plays doesn’t entirely hurt his rhythm.
Maddux, for his part, was one of the most efficient starting pitchers in baseball history. Complete games of sub-100 pitches are literally called ‘a Maddux’ because of how good he was at getting quick outs.
That’s what Hunter’s drafting team, likely the Browns, will be hoping for most of all. They’d love for him to make all the plays in the world while getting a breather every now and then.
Hunter doesn’t need to throw 150 pitches. He just needs to be hugging the catcher at the end of an efficiently pitched complete game victory.
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