The 2025 NFL Draft is rapidly approaching. Teams are finishing their in-house prospect visits and making final adjustments to their draft strategies. Multiple top-tier prospects have been called “generational” in the pre-draft process, and an NFL Insider recently called one a unicorn.
NFL Insider Takes Describing Generational Talent to the Next Level
Colorado’s Travis Hunter is as unique of a prospect as there’s ever been in the NFL. He’s a rare athlete who excelled on both sides off the ball and legitimately qualifies as a top-five pick at two positions.
PFSN’s Brentley Weissman’s scouting report highlights how special a player Hunter is. He wrote, “As a prospect, Hunter possesses below-average overall size and length but offers once-in-a-generation type of overall athleticism. He has rare quickness, speed, and burst that allow him to excel and win against most players he lines up against on either side of the ball. Furthermore, Hunter has rare instincts, ball skills and is hyper-competitive, all of which are evident in the way he plays the game.”
Hunter posted 96 receptions, 1,258 yards, and 15 touchdowns as a receiver in 2024. He was Shedeur Sanders’s safety blanket and solidified himself as the best receiver prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The 2024 Heisman Trophy winner also brought home the Walter Camp Award, the Biletnikoff Award (nation’s best receiver), and the Bednarik Award (nation’s best defensive player). So, what position will Hunter play once he lands with an NFL team?
Miami’s Cam Ward has emerged as the likely first overall pick by the Tennessee Titans. The Cleveland Browns own the second pick and reportedly see Hunter as a receiver first. Weissman wrote about his offensive ability, “Hunter is a big-play threat whenever he touches the football. He displays rare ability with the ball in his hands and has outstanding start/stop quickness and lateral agility to make defenders miss in the open field.”
Hunter might not be the most refined route runner, relying on his elite athleticism to separate from college corners, but that will improve as he spends more time with NFL coaches. NFL Insider Ian Rapoport recently discussed how rare of a prospect Hunter is, and what side of the ball he could begin his professional career on.
From The Insiders on @NFLNetwork: Travis Hunter is as unique a prospect as we’ve seen. pic.twitter.com/GPqkIvIb4W
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 12, 2025
Rapoport said, “If he goes to the Cleveland Browns at #2, which is certainly in the realm of possibility, he’ll start out as a receiver. Someone they believe is incredibly talented. He is incredibly talented, and he hasn’t exactly focused on receiver that much. So what you’re seeing on the field is a lot just based on his raw ability. Imagine if he got the kind of coaching he’d get as a full-time receiver.
“That’s at least how teams that view him as a receiver feel, and then he would potentially sprinkle in at corner. But there are several other teams who pick high who view him as a corner first. We use the term shutdown corner. That’s not really the kind of player that Travis Hunter would be. He’s not Patrick Surtain, who lines up with the number one guy.
“He’s more instinctual, maybe someone who would excel in zone. Someone who might get beat some, but lead the league in interceptions. Just a really, really unique corner. Then, he could come and play receiver, maybe in the red zone.”
Rapoport is right about Hunter being an instinctive coverage player. He has the necessary athleticism to be a lockdown defender, but will need time adjusting to elite NFL route runners. Last season, he recorded 36 tackles, 11 pass breakups, and four interceptions. Hunter can excel on both sides of the ball in the NFL, but the debate continues about where he should start.
“This conversation that we’re having right now, we have not had a lot in the last many, many years.” Rapoport continued, “This is a unicorn. A lot of teams love him, but just don’t know how it’s gonna play out. That’s part of the fun of watching him. It’s all out there for Travis Hunter. I just don’t know if he’s going to play every snap of every game.”
Hunter was the most exciting college player to watch in 2024 and could be the spark Cleveland needs if they select him with the second pick.