It's been a long time since we saw a player like Colorado's Travis Hunter, who the Jacksonville Jaguars traded up to draft second overall in 2025.

Two-way players disappeared from the NFL over half a century ago, and they are incredibly rare even at the collegiate level. But Hunter was just that last year in Boulder--he played 713 snaps as a wide receiver and 748 at cornerback. Not only did Hunter play on both sides of the ball, but he shined--Hunter won the Bednarik Award as the nation's top defensive player, the Biletnikoff Award as the country's top wideout, and the Heisman trophy.

Now, as Hunter enters the NFL, he does so with the intent of continuing to play both offense and defense. That has raised an issue for fantasy providers. How should he be classified in fantasy leagues? As a wide receiver? As a cornerback? As both? It's a question that could have a massive impact in IDP leagues in 2025. In fact, depending on where Hunter can be slotted in starting lineups, he could be more than just an impactful fantasy asset. More than just the most valuable rookie in fantasy football in 2025.

Hunter could be a league-breaker.

Hunter's NFL Role

Which position Hunter would predominantly play in the pros has been one of the NFL's most talked-about topics from the moment that Colorado's 2024 season ended. Once the Jaguars drafted Hunter, head coach Liam Coen made it clear that, at least to start, Hunter would slot primarily as a wide receiver, with some snaps at cornerback sprinkled in.

"We’ll have a plan right now of [him playing] primarily on offense," he told reporters, "with him learning the defensive system and practicing on the defensive side of the ball as well throughout this offseason program." 

However, Hunter told CBS Sports that he will play both ways in the NFL--because the other option is not playing at all.

"It's never playing football again," Hunter said. "Because I've been doing it my whole life, and I love being on the football field. I feel like I could dominate on each side of the ball, so I really enjoy doing it. I just feel very confident in myself, and I got a competitive spirit that I can do whatever I put my mind to, and I feel like I can do it." 

Jaguars general manager James Gladstone appears to have heard Hunter--he told reporters that the team has a plan for Hunter to play offense and defense--even if it means he leads the league in snaps as a rookie.

“There's a lot of layers to that,” Gladstone said. “Certainly, we have to operate within all measures in compliance with league mandates, but at the same time, yeah, there's a certain level of recovery and preparation in order to take on the workload that he's about to sort of take on. Again, it's got a lot of layers to the sports-science front and making sure we're operating on all cylinders.”

The Reality

Okay, this is admittedly speculation. It cannot be said with absolute certainty that Hunter will not be a true two-way player for the Jaguars.

But there is no chance in hell that Hunter is a true two-way player for the Jaguars.

This isn't a mediocre college team playing in a mediocre conference where every team has a handful of standout players. This is the NFL--every player on every team was a standout in college. The jump in level of competition from college to the pros is staggering.

Success in the NFL also isn't solely about talent--it takes an incredible amount of practice and preparation each and every week to excel at one position, let alone two. There are meetings and practices to attend--and limits on practice time imposed by the collective bargaining agreement. That isn't to say that Hunter can't work out on his own away from the facility, but unless the team is going to revolve the entire practice and meeting schedule around one player and Hunter focuses on nothing but football all day, every day, he's going to fall behind somewhere. Maybe everywhere.

There are also the immense physical demands of the NFL. Yes, Hunter's young and from all indications in tremendous shape. But the NFL's snap leader last year (Carolina Panthers cornerback Mike Jackson) played just 1,308 snaps in 2024--and almost all of those were on defense. 

Could Hunter surpass that number? Yes. But the split between offense and defense won't be anywhere close to even, and he's not playing 1,800-plus snaps. It's just not going to happen. He'll die. And that's not just one writer talking out of his butt (although it's been known to happen). As Mike Sando wrote for The Athletic, at least one NFL executive doesn't expect the whole two-way thing to last that long.

“I can’t name a dual-threat guy who played both ways at the level they are drafting him at,” the exec said. “Deion Sanders? Rod Woodson? They all settled into whatever their position is. As soon as he gets one injury and is out for three weeks, he is going to one side of the ball.”

Hunter's Positional Eligibility

Still, no one's certain just how many snaps Hunter is playing where, so many fantasy providers have addressed that uncertainty with dual eligibility. At most IDP providers (ESPN, Fleaflicker, Sleeper, and Yahoo), Hunter is currently eligible as both a cornerback (or defensive back) and a wide receiver. It's possible, at least, that could change, but frankly, the odds it does aren't good.

My Fantasy League doesn't offer dual eligibility for players, and at that site, Hunter is presently classified as a wide receiver. However, Hunter can still (depending on a league's settings) score points for plays made while on defense, and commissioners can alter that positional eligibility.

What it Means in Fantasy Leagues

Frankly, fantasy managers in offense-only leagues shouldn't want any of this two-way stuff. Even if Hunter plays the overwhelming majority of his snaps as a pass-catcher, at some point, the defensive snaps will come at the expense of offensive ones. None of those snaps where Hunter can't score a single fantasy point helps his value there.

In IDP leagues, though, it's a different story.

Let's say, for argument's sake, that the uber-talented (or so many believe) Hunter is capable of performing as both a top-30 wide receiver and a top-60 cornerback. Some may argue those rankings are too low. Or too high. But to this dude, it's a reasonable-enough baseline to show the bump he could see from playing both ways--and the staggering one for IDP managers who can slot him as a cornerback.

The No. 30 ranked wide receiver in The Huddle IDP Expert League (a league John Norton and I have been in for years with fairly straightforward IDP scoring), was Jakobi Meyers of the Las Vegas Raiders--at 13.62 PPR points per game. The No. 60 cornerback was Jaire Alexander of the Green Bay Packers, at 7.86 fantasy points per game.

Take off your shoes and add those numbers up, and you come in at just under 21.5 fantasy points per game--production that would have landed Hunter second among all wide receivers last year behind only Ja'Marr Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals. Shave off two points per week, and Hunter's still in the top-five receivers. Shave two more still, and he's either just inside or just outside the top 10.

Flip it to cornerbacks, and hoo-boy.

In 2024, there was one cornerback in the league who averaged over 13 fantasy points per game--Paulson Adebo of the New Orleans Saints, who missed half the season. Only five averaged 12 points per game. And it's not just about Hunter's Aaron Donald-esque advantage over the other corners. There wasn't a single defensive back a year ago who averaged 17 fantasy points per game. Less than five averaged 15 points per contest.

As a matter of fact, in that scoring system, there wasn't a single IDP at any position who averaged 19 fantasy points per game. Six averaged 17 points per week--total.

You can drop Hunter's offensive production well into WR4 territory, and if he does anything on defense, he'll be one of the highest scoring IDPs at any position. And if he does play the majority of his snaps at wide receiver at anywhere near the percentage I think, then giving an offensive player DB/CB eligibility has created the greatest "loophole" player IDP has ever seen.

Sigh.

Hunter's Value in IDP Leagues

Frankly, in terms of total fantasy points, the best thing for everyone would be Hunter at wideout all game every game. If he became an elite fantasy wideout, he's going to score more and more consistently than two-way Hunter. Offense-only leagues would also get every tasty point. But that could also cost Hunter his dual eligibility.

And the folks who have said dual eligibility would not like that even a little.

Assuming that Hunter plays three of four-ish snaps in 2024 as a wide receiver (a reasonable assumption given what we know now), his IDP value breaks down like this.

At say My Fantasy League, where Hunter is classified as a wide receiver but also gets the benefit of points accrued on defense, he's in the WR1 conversation. There may be a bit more risk involved because of uncertainty over his play splits, but as was already shown, it doesn't take a massive combo platter to boost Hunter toward the head of the line.

If Hunter has cornerback eligibility in IDP leagues that require them, he's the No. 1 player at the position--full stop. It's not just the potentially massive gap between Hunter and most of the rest of the field. Cornerbacks are far and away IDP's most high-variance position. Hunter's time on offense will offer a measure of consistency that fantasy managers can usually only dream of at that spot.

Even in leagues where Hunter is "just" a defensive back, it's hard to argue against Hunter as the first player who should be drafted at the position. Safeties may be more consistent than cornerbacks as a rule, but that doesn't make them consistent. Hunter's primary role as a wide receiver would afford both a more stable floor and a potential fantasy ceiling that no other defensive back could match.

However, if you want to hop on the Hunter hype train, prepare to pay retail for the ticket. I don't know if you have noticed, but Hunter's a fairly popular fellow these days--and not just in Duval County.

Gary Davenport ("The Godfather of IDP") is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow him on Twitter (Can't make him call it X) at @IDPGodfather.