Giants GM Schoen open to Travis Hunter playing offense and defense if they select him in NFL draft

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The New York Giants are open to allowing Colorado standout Travis Hunter to play on both sides of the ball if they wind up using the third overall pick in next week's NFL draft on the cornerback and wide receiver.

Giants general manager Joe Schoen said during the team's pre-draft news conference Wednesday that it “would not be afraid to play him on both sides of the ball.” Hunter has made it clear he intends to play both offense and defense in the NFL, telling CBS Sports recently that his response to any team trying to limit him would be “never playing football again.”

Hunter not only won the Heisman Trophy, the most prestigious award in college football, he also took home the Bednarik Award as college football’s top defensive player and was selected as The Associated Press player of the year. He caught 96 passes for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns while also making 35 tackles, breaking up 11 passes and picking off four.

That has some NFL scouts rating him as both the best wide receiver and best cornerback available in this year's draft.

Still, playing both ways in college is much different than the NFL, where Schoen said the mental demands could be even more taxing on Hunter as the physical toll in playing the majority of the snaps that take place during a game.

"Offense is very hard to learn and then the defense on a weekly basis — it’s not college anymore where, 'Hey, these are our basic plays, this is our basic defense and we’re going to go play cover-3h against Kansas, we’re going to play cover-3 against Nebraska,” Schoen said. “There’s a lot more week-to-week matchup type-stuff that our coaches are doing.

"So, just how much can you handle mentally where you can go out there and execute and they can trust you to do your job?”

Hunter insisted in a recent interview with The AP that he was capable of handling the load.

“I wouldn’t doubt the kid. He’s that type of athlete,” Schoen said. “He’s had that type of production, the number of snaps he plays in a game, doesn’t sit down, goes over, gets a drink of water and gets back out on the field.”

The Giants aren't necessarily where Hunter will land, either.

They have temporarily solidified their quarterback room with Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston and Tommy DeVito on the roster, but they could be interested in a long-term solution, such as Hunter's teammate, Shedeur Sanders. They also could go after the top edge rusher, Abdul Carter of Penn State, who many consider the best player available in the entire draft.

“We feel like we're in a pretty good spot. There's still some work to do, some loose ends we're going to tie up,” Schoen said. “We will still do Zooms with prospects. We're not there yet. But we're close. I feel pretty good about where we are.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl