Travis Hunter will be a member of the Browns on Thursday night. Cleveland is ready to take the bidirectional phenomenon with selection No. 2 in the NFL draft, and at this point the only thing that could throw a key in that plan is whether the antiques of the commercial opportunity of the last second that is too good to pass.
The teams have fought with the position of the NFL of Hunter during much of the process prior to the draft. Is it an open receiver that will play a small corner? A corner who could see snapshots in the open receiver? It is a shame of wealth when it comes to a player who won more awards in a single season than any university soccer player in history. Hunter won the Heisman for the player of the year, the Bednarik for the defensive player of the year and the bilatnikoff as the main receiver of the nation, these are just some of their praise.
It has been quite clear to convert this process in which the Browns were marked to take Hunter. Devils, when your GM compares a perspective with Shohei Ohtani, is the clearest sign that they are sold in a boy. And although that comparison with Ohtani may seem ridiculous, he is not really so far. In the same way that Shohei turned baseball on his head with his ability to hit and tone, he is also about to become one of the two true two -way players in the history of modern NFL.
Duration The flourishing days of professional football was not uncommon to see two -way players. Much of this tended to be out of need in the childhood of the NFL, and to take the best athletes in a team that occupied multiple roles. Do not look beyond the 1933 New York Giants League leadership. The rear Frank Newman led the team in passes, running, and was fifth in reception yards.
Sammy Baugh had one of the most absurd seasons in the history of football in 1942, when defensive statistics were traced for the first time. Baugh led Washington in passing, played defense and registered a team leading five interceptions. Hello, Kicks also returned, and was the Washington betr. Baugh Literally did everything.
The bidirectional athlete fell along the way as football evolved. The coaches perfected the strategy and refined the game to shape the players in single purfosa arms. It was better to have scales in each position, instead of knives from the Swiss army, making the idea that anyone could play a trick, instead of a tool.
Deion Sanders changed all that. When Prime was prepared to get to the NFL in 1989, he was one of the most impressive athletes that the country had had. A upper corner in Florida State, a batter with lights on the baseball team and even the racing track. There was nothing that Deione could not do, but it was not really until 1996 with the Dallas Cowboys that was unleashed as a true bidirectional player. While Sanders had ventured into offensive snapshots in Atlanta and San Francisco, the Cowboys made him a dedicated weapon. That season began 15 games in the corner, and ended with a 475 -yard collection in his career. It may not have the best legsers season in the NFL, but it was the most several.
From here, the term “two -way player” became a bit laborious. Of course, we had boys who occasionally played snapshots on both sides of the ball, but “Two Way” tended to refer to players who were offers of Defense, but played special teams from a great devin Hester Hall.
Kordell Stewart is considered one of the last and two -way players in the NFL that did not participate in special teams. While the QB of the Steelers played exclusively in the offensive, Stewart mixed failures, received and hastened to become a unicorn in football at the end of the 90s. In 1998, Stewart threw for 2,500 yards, ran for 406 yards and aligned himself in reciuso on numerous occasions.
Troy Brown came later, but in a slightly different way. The former patriot made the transition of being an initial receiver for most of his career, to turn to DB when the speed decreased in his 30 years. Brown often appeared on both sides of the ball; Still, we didn’t see anyone play as Dion did.
That changes Thursday night. Travis Hunter will be the first player in 30 years to compete on both sides of the ball as his coach of Colorado Deion Sanders did, but unlike Sanders, Newman, Baugh, Stewart or Brown: there is a legitimate debate about what his best position could be. Hunter is a true unicorn. An impact player on both sides of football, and does it without the need for a special package or a trick to work. He is such a stellar athlete with one eye for the ball that could legitimately play two initial positions in the NFL, and that is totally unique.
Now it’s how the Browns will use, and how far the coaching staff will get to put it in the field and let it cook.