Mel Kiper Jr. believes Travis Hunter will be a 2-way player early in his NFL career | News, scores, highlights, stats and rumors

ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. believes Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter will play both wide receiver and cornerback early in his NFL career before settling on one side of the ball.

Kiper said Thursday at NFL on ESPN’s First draft He believes Hunter will be able to master either position in the NFL, “because he doesn't play both positions … as he goes into the fourth, fifth year of his career.”

“I think, and I've talked to a lot of people about this, I think he's going to play both sides in the early NFL days… If he's a cornerback, he's going to be used on the offensive side of the ball,” Kiper said. (Mark 21:25 in the video below.)

Kiper emphasized that Hunter will play sparingly on the other side of the ball in the NFL and will not be as constant a presence on the field as he was in Boulder.

He was most recently on the field for 123 of 138 snaps in Colorado's 28-9 win over Colorado State last Saturday.

In three games with the Buffaloes, Hunter has made 30 catches for 342 yards and five touchdowns.

As a cornerback, he recorded a total of 11 tackles, including one for a loss, as well as two passes defended and one interception.

Hunter recently told Pat Graham of the Associated Press that he prefers catching and intercepting passes “equally,” and Colorado head coach Deion Sanders expressed confidence that the two-way star could succeed as both a wide receiver and cornerback in the NFL.

It seems likely that Hunter will ultimately settle on one position, as his current snap totals in the NFL would place too much physical strain on him.

However, if teams believe he can play on both sides of the ball early in his career, Hunter's value could increase even further before the 2025 draft. The B/R NFL scouting department projected the two-way junior as the next No. 1 pick in their first mock draft.