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The player who may be the Browns' top target at No. 2 will be on display Friday in Boulder, Colorado. It may not be who many think.
Both University of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way star Travis Hunter will conduct their pro day Friday afternoon, along with a handful of other Buffaloes prospects. The Browns are going to be well-represented in town, both at the workout and at a separate dinner they will have with both Sanders and Hunter while they're in Colorado.
Owner Jimmy Haslam, general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski will all be in attendance. Since Sanders will be one of the primary targets, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave also are likely to be present.
That contingent has already done the same with Miami quarterback Cam Ward, Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter, Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe and Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart over the last week.
"Well, let me say, I can't evaluate the quarterbacks and who throws better one than the other," Haslam told a small group of Browns beat writers, including the Beacon Journal, Monday at the owners' meetings. "What is really nice is we have dinner with them before. We encourage them to bring their parents, if they have a girlfriend to bring their girlfriend, and we'll spend two or three hours getting to know the person, and that's what's been helpful to me. I'll say this, we've had four of 'em, is that right? And got two more to go. Really three, because we're doing two at Colorado."
While Sanders may be at the headline position, Hunter may be the headline act. At least for the Browns, who are going through the same process with the wide receiver and cornerback as everyone else in the NFL who could be considering him.
Are you actually getting a two-for-one deal with the Heisman Trophy winner?
"I think it's a good question," Stefanski said at the NFL owner's meetings Monday. "I think every team is having that discussion. I think he's very capable of both. How you structure it, where you start him quote, unquote is really important to figure out. I could see both sides of it. I could see him as a wide receiver that moonlights at defensive back. The easier thing that you've seen over the years is the defensive back that then gets a package of plays, so every team is talking through that and how they would structure it, but this is a unique young man in his ability to do both."
Hunter played 2,625 total snaps during just his two seasons at Colorado, which is when he became a full-time two-way player. As a freshman at FCS Division I Jackson State, he played 503 defensive snaps compared to just 87 on offense.
Over his Heisman-winning final season at Colorado, Hunter had 96 catches for 1,258 yards, with 15 touchdowns over 672 offensive snaps. He added 35 total tackles, including 34 solo, with 11 passes defensed, one forced fumble and four interceptions over 688 defensive snaps.
Berry had stated at the NFL combine in February he viewed Hunter as a wide receiver first, a position opposite to what most others asked viewed him. To a small group of Browns beat writers at the owners meetings, he clarified a bit what he meant, while saying both positions are essentially on the table.
"I think part of what I said regarding Travis got maybe perhaps a little overlooked," Berry said. "The first part of that question was like, ‘OK, hey, can you play both ways?’ And I think the answer is yes, he can play either position. I think he'll play both sides of the ball in the NFL, I truly do. How that balance looks I think depends on the relative schemes on each side of the ball and then how much he can handle probably more physically than mentally.
"He's brilliant. He's brilliant from a football standpoint, has a rare intelligence. So, I don't think that there's necessarily a limit in terms of how you can use him. I think he’ll be good at each point."
The Browns view Hunter as unlike any other player to come into the NFL in situations similar to him. The direct comparisons are Charles Woodson and Champ Bailey, two eventual Pro Football Hall of Famers who saw two-way time during their times collegiately at Michigan and Georgia, respectively.
Woodson's offensive stats in the NFL amounted to two catches on three targets, as well as a loss of 3 yards on one rushing attempt. Bailey was targeted nine times while catching four passes in the league, while getting two rushing attempts.
"I think what people don't realize is, so Charles Woodson in his college career, I realized it was a different era, but he had almost as many college receptions in his three-year career as he did interceptions," Berry said. "He had 21 catches in college and 16 picks. Champ Bailey, he had 59 catches in his three-year career and under a thousand yards and I think eight picks. So, Travis, fifth in the nation in receiving, led the Big 12 with 96 catches, 15 touchdowns, seven career picks — like truly was a full-time player on both sides of the ball and that's where I think there's maybe a little bit lost historically in terms of how rare what he accomplished at Colorado. He didn't moonlight on the offensive side of the ball."
Hunter has stated definitively that he has no intention of just "moonlighting" on one side of the ball. Asked about it at the combine, he said, "I'm going to play both. That's not my job to figure it out."
The Browns job right now is to figure out if the multi-faceted Hunter is the better value at No. 2 than his teammate Sanders, despite the latter's premier position. The trip to Boulder gives the Browns a chance to find answers to the final questions they have about the quarterback, who boasts the kind of accuracy (70.1% completion rate over four seasons), vision from the pocket and low turnover rate (1.7%) that would certainly make him attractive to any coach.
However, the Browns decision makers who spoke in Palm Beach this week — from Haslam to Stefanski — made it at least sound like taking Sanders at No. 2 isn't the foregone conclusion it's being made out to be by some.
"I think the most straightforward path to contention is you get your version of (Washington Commanders NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year) Jayden Daniels in the draft and you're off and running," Berry said. "I think that's a little bit more the exception rather than the rule and that's to — I can't remember (who) asked a question about rookie quarterbacks transitioning — you just never know how that's going to happen. But I think maybe the broader point is there is more than one avenue to building a contending team or walking that path.
"That's why I don't undersell the amount of time that we think through how a variety of possible paths could look. Look, we could just sit and pick at two. I'm not saying that that's not necessarily going to happen on (April 24). But as we sit here on March 30, I think there's plenty of work to do."
Work that continues in the Rocky Mountains on Friday.
Chris Easterling can be reached at [email protected]. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders get Browns draft audition at pro day
Continue reading...
Both University of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way star Travis Hunter will conduct their pro day Friday afternoon, along with a handful of other Buffaloes prospects. The Browns are going to be well-represented in town, both at the workout and at a separate dinner they will have with both Sanders and Hunter while they're in Colorado.
Owner Jimmy Haslam, general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski will all be in attendance. Since Sanders will be one of the primary targets, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave also are likely to be present.
That contingent has already done the same with Miami quarterback Cam Ward, Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter, Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe and Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart over the last week.
"Well, let me say, I can't evaluate the quarterbacks and who throws better one than the other," Haslam told a small group of Browns beat writers, including the Beacon Journal, Monday at the owners' meetings. "What is really nice is we have dinner with them before. We encourage them to bring their parents, if they have a girlfriend to bring their girlfriend, and we'll spend two or three hours getting to know the person, and that's what's been helpful to me. I'll say this, we've had four of 'em, is that right? And got two more to go. Really three, because we're doing two at Colorado."
What to know about Travis Hunter going into Colorado Pro Day
While Sanders may be at the headline position, Hunter may be the headline act. At least for the Browns, who are going through the same process with the wide receiver and cornerback as everyone else in the NFL who could be considering him.
Are you actually getting a two-for-one deal with the Heisman Trophy winner?
"I think it's a good question," Stefanski said at the NFL owner's meetings Monday. "I think every team is having that discussion. I think he's very capable of both. How you structure it, where you start him quote, unquote is really important to figure out. I could see both sides of it. I could see him as a wide receiver that moonlights at defensive back. The easier thing that you've seen over the years is the defensive back that then gets a package of plays, so every team is talking through that and how they would structure it, but this is a unique young man in his ability to do both."
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Hunter played 2,625 total snaps during just his two seasons at Colorado, which is when he became a full-time two-way player. As a freshman at FCS Division I Jackson State, he played 503 defensive snaps compared to just 87 on offense.
Over his Heisman-winning final season at Colorado, Hunter had 96 catches for 1,258 yards, with 15 touchdowns over 672 offensive snaps. He added 35 total tackles, including 34 solo, with 11 passes defensed, one forced fumble and four interceptions over 688 defensive snaps.
Is Travis Hunter a wide receiver first or defensive back ... or both?
Berry had stated at the NFL combine in February he viewed Hunter as a wide receiver first, a position opposite to what most others asked viewed him. To a small group of Browns beat writers at the owners meetings, he clarified a bit what he meant, while saying both positions are essentially on the table.
"I think part of what I said regarding Travis got maybe perhaps a little overlooked," Berry said. "The first part of that question was like, ‘OK, hey, can you play both ways?’ And I think the answer is yes, he can play either position. I think he'll play both sides of the ball in the NFL, I truly do. How that balance looks I think depends on the relative schemes on each side of the ball and then how much he can handle probably more physically than mentally.
"He's brilliant. He's brilliant from a football standpoint, has a rare intelligence. So, I don't think that there's necessarily a limit in terms of how you can use him. I think he’ll be good at each point."
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The Browns view Hunter as unlike any other player to come into the NFL in situations similar to him. The direct comparisons are Charles Woodson and Champ Bailey, two eventual Pro Football Hall of Famers who saw two-way time during their times collegiately at Michigan and Georgia, respectively.
Woodson's offensive stats in the NFL amounted to two catches on three targets, as well as a loss of 3 yards on one rushing attempt. Bailey was targeted nine times while catching four passes in the league, while getting two rushing attempts.
"I think what people don't realize is, so Charles Woodson in his college career, I realized it was a different era, but he had almost as many college receptions in his three-year career as he did interceptions," Berry said. "He had 21 catches in college and 16 picks. Champ Bailey, he had 59 catches in his three-year career and under a thousand yards and I think eight picks. So, Travis, fifth in the nation in receiving, led the Big 12 with 96 catches, 15 touchdowns, seven career picks — like truly was a full-time player on both sides of the ball and that's where I think there's maybe a little bit lost historically in terms of how rare what he accomplished at Colorado. He didn't moonlight on the offensive side of the ball."
Hunter has stated definitively that he has no intention of just "moonlighting" on one side of the ball. Asked about it at the combine, he said, "I'm going to play both. That's not my job to figure it out."
What to know about Shedeur Sanders going into Colorado Pro Day
The Browns job right now is to figure out if the multi-faceted Hunter is the better value at No. 2 than his teammate Sanders, despite the latter's premier position. The trip to Boulder gives the Browns a chance to find answers to the final questions they have about the quarterback, who boasts the kind of accuracy (70.1% completion rate over four seasons), vision from the pocket and low turnover rate (1.7%) that would certainly make him attractive to any coach.
However, the Browns decision makers who spoke in Palm Beach this week — from Haslam to Stefanski — made it at least sound like taking Sanders at No. 2 isn't the foregone conclusion it's being made out to be by some.
"I think the most straightforward path to contention is you get your version of (Washington Commanders NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year) Jayden Daniels in the draft and you're off and running," Berry said. "I think that's a little bit more the exception rather than the rule and that's to — I can't remember (who) asked a question about rookie quarterbacks transitioning — you just never know how that's going to happen. But I think maybe the broader point is there is more than one avenue to building a contending team or walking that path.
"That's why I don't undersell the amount of time that we think through how a variety of possible paths could look. Look, we could just sit and pick at two. I'm not saying that that's not necessarily going to happen on (April 24). But as we sit here on March 30, I think there's plenty of work to do."
Work that continues in the Rocky Mountains on Friday.
Chris Easterling can be reached at [email protected]. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders get Browns draft audition at pro day
Continue reading...
