I was watching a highlights package for Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders the other day. At least, I thought I was. It looked a lot more like a highlights package for Heisman-winning wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter.
There was a lot of debate over whether the Heisman should have gone to Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty or Colorado's Hunter. Jeanty won't be drafted earlier, but he'll be the top pick in rookie drafts and selected earlier in redraft regardless.
But it's hard not to be fascinated by Hunter. The NFL being a quarterback-driven league, he'll likely be selected behind at least one passer (Miami's Cam Ward) and maybe Sanders, and Penn State pass rusher Abdul Carter too. But I think a case can be made for him as the No. 1 overall pick.
Hunter lit up the stat sheet on offense, catching 96 passes for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns (plus a rushing score). Lots of catches of the impressive leaping, body-contorting variety. But in general, I'm seeing him get a lot more accolades for his play at cornerback. In that regard he recorded 36 total tackles and 4 interceptions last year, with 11 passes defensed.
The team that selects him will need to decide how much they're going to play him at each position. I think he'll play a lot of both; too good not to play a ton on defense, and too much of a playmaker not to be utilized plenty on offense. It's going to be exciting.
I looked at the history of players who have played a lot on both offense and defense. There aren't many. The best example (in the Super Bowl era, anyway) is his quarterback's father, Deion Sanders. Other than him, there's a guy who changed positions a couple of times about 15 years ago; that was fun. Then a whole lot of players who primarily played defense but got a handful of opportunities on offense.
Mike Furrey is the interesting one. He played wide receiver with the Rams, was switched to defensive back for a season (recording 4 interceptions that year), then played wide receiver for a couple of years with the Lions.
If we're talking NFL history, Packers Hall of Famer Don Hutson is the headliner. He had 99 touchdowns as a receiver and 30 interceptions as a defensive back. He also played nearly a century ago (1935-1945), and I thought I'd stick to the Super Bowl era.
Table shows all players in the Super Bowl era who both caught a touchdown and had an interception return for a touchdown in their careers. Furrey and Sanders are the noteworthy guys to play on both offense and defense in their careers. Mike Vrabel was a defensive player who the Patriots liked to use as a receiver around the goal line. The others on the table were also defensive players who got a few chances on offense via gadget plays. Search tools at pro-football-reference.com used in compiling this table.
| NFL PLAYERS WITH RECEIVING AND INTERCEPTION RETURN TDS, 1967- | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Player | Pos | G | Rec | Yds | TD | Tckl | Int | IntTD |
| 2003-2009 | Mike Furrey | WR | 94 | 221 | 2298 | 7 | 79 | 4 | 1 |
| 1989-2005 | Deion Sanders | CB | 188 | 60 | 784 | 3 | 512 | 53 | 9 |
| 1997-2010 | Mike Vrabel | LB | 206 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 762 | 11 | 1 |
| 1992-2005 | Dale Carter | CB | 157 | 6 | 89 | 1 | 185 | 24 | 1 |
| 2022-2024 | Marcus Jones | DB | 31 | 5 | 96 | 1 | 102 | 3 | 1 |
| 1995-2007 | Warren Sapp | DT | 198 | 4 | 39 | 2 | 578 | 4 | 1 |
| 2011-2022 | J.J. Watt | DE | 151 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 586 | 2 | 2 |
| 1991-2000 | James Jones | DT | 160 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 432 | 1 | 1 |
| 2004-2015 | Jared Allen | DE | 187 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 648 | 6 | 1 |
| 1996-2006 | Marcus Coleman | FS | 152 | 2 | 51 | 1 | 502 | 25 | 2 |
| 2000-2012 | Brian Urlacher | MLB | 182 | 1 | 27 | 1 | 1361 | 22 | 2 |
| 2002-2012 | Chris Hope | DB | 163 | 1 | 81 | 1 | 730 | 20 | 1 |
| 1996-2011 | Brian Dawkins | FS | 224 | 1 | 57 | 1 | 1147 | 37 | 2 |
| 2016-2024 | Elandon Roberts | ILB | 140 | 1 | 38 | 1 | 604 | 1 | 1 |
| 1984-1995 | Carl Banks | OLB | 173 | 1 | 22 | 1 | 860 | 3 | 1 |
Hunter's a unicorn. He'll be on this table eventually, and probably the only one besides Furrey and Sanders to post significant numbers on both offense and defense in his career. Get him with the right coaching staff (I've been seeing him mocked to Jacksonville at 5, but let's not rule out the Patriots, coached by Vrabel, of course) at 4. Surely the teams in the top 3 (Titans, Browns, Giants) will at least think about him, right? Regardless, he'll be a lot of fun to follow over the next few years.
--Andy Richardson