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BEREA — Travis Hunter was looking for an established workout partner as he closes in on his rookie season in the NFL. The Colorado two-way star decided one of the individuals he had to reach out to was Browns four-time Pro Bowler Denzel Ward.
"He said he wants to train," Ward said April 23. "Yeah, I'm definitely open to that. I know he reached out to me a while ago wanting to train and I told him, 'Hey, whenever you ready, come out and we can get it in.' So I definitely look forward to getting with him and working out and learning from each other, seeing what he do well and I'll teach him some things myself. But yeah, I'm definitely open to working out with him."
Time will soon tell if those workouts will be two talented football players — one of whom is trying to play both wide receiver and cornerback in the league — just trying to improve themselves for their upcoming seasons. Or, will it be two teammates trying to make each other better in order to help the Browns turn things around from last season's 3-14?
The answer will come soon enough. The NFL draft starts April 24, and the Browns hold the No. 2 overall pick.
Hunter has been the overwhelming favorite to be the player Cleveland selects if they make the pick for about a month now. Ward sounded like a player who, if he didn't already know that he was going to be teammates with the Heisman Trophy winner, would certainly be more than happy if that turned out to be the result.
"Definitely, definitely," Ward said. "For sure. Yeah, I'll definitely welcome him. That's a great player, exceptional player, can make plays, offense, defense, put 'em out there and whoever we get, I'm open to whoever can come in and help this team win. I'm all for it trying to get to the playoffs, win the Super Bowl and win games around here so whoever helps us do that, I'm all for it."
The biggest question, wherever Hunter ends up being drafted, will always revolve around how the team uses him. Browns general manager Andrew Berry has compared his abilities as both a wide receiver and cornerback to Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, a player who is elite both as a position player and a pitcher in baseball.
Berry has said wide receiver is probably the side of the ball where his ball skills, balance and body control can all be best used. However, he said playing Hunter both ways was abolutely in the plans, should the Browns end up with him.
Ward last played on both sides of the ball during his days at Nordonia High School. However, having spent the last eight years in the NFL, it's given him a perspective to know what the workload is for any player at a position.
"Anything's possible," Ward said. "I think it's possible though. I think it would have to be managed reps. I mean we work at different times, like offense is there one time and then we go off to the side and we're working on this side. But I mean, I feel they can manage the teams could manage the reps and go about it that way. I'm sure they'll come up with a game plan for it, but yeah, I think it's possible though."
So how would Ward, if he was advising Hunter, handle the transition to the NFL? Maybe not the way one would think a cornerback would go.
"I agree that he should start on offense first," Ward said. "I'll say, I think cornerback is easier in terms of learning the playbook. I think the offensive playbook is probably a little bit more difficult than a defensive playbook. But I think the cornerback position and playing corner is more difficult than playing the receiver position."
Hunter started his college career basically doing the opposite. He played 503 defensive snaps in 2022 as a freshman at Jackson State, compared to just 87 on offense.
The next season, Hunter's 1,044 combined snaps were divvied up significantly more evenly. He still leaned defense over offense, but the margin was 592-452.
Hunter's Heisman season last fall was almost a dead-even split. It was 688 on defense, compared to 672 on offense.
"I think he's an exceptional player and I think that seeing him on the field, he's able to do it in college so I would be excited to see him do it in the NFL as well," Ward said. "I mean you got to be open to seeing different things and that would be different. So it just takes one person to do it at an extremely high level. I know there's guys that played both ways here and there, but I'm rooting for him though."
That may come as Browns teammates in a very short time. If/when that happens, it will add a different dimension to those workouts Hunter wants to have with Ward.
When those workouts happen, how will Ward, the cornerback, react to Hunter, the wide receiver, trying to make a catch on him?
"Oh no. Oh no," Ward said. "That's not an option. Y'all see that. Y'all got to ask me about that, what happens, but nah, I can't allow that. Him or any other receiver."
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: Denzel Ward believes Travis Hunter can play both ways in NFL
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"He said he wants to train," Ward said April 23. "Yeah, I'm definitely open to that. I know he reached out to me a while ago wanting to train and I told him, 'Hey, whenever you ready, come out and we can get it in.' So I definitely look forward to getting with him and working out and learning from each other, seeing what he do well and I'll teach him some things myself. But yeah, I'm definitely open to working out with him."
Time will soon tell if those workouts will be two talented football players — one of whom is trying to play both wide receiver and cornerback in the league — just trying to improve themselves for their upcoming seasons. Or, will it be two teammates trying to make each other better in order to help the Browns turn things around from last season's 3-14?
The answer will come soon enough. The NFL draft starts April 24, and the Browns hold the No. 2 overall pick.
Hunter has been the overwhelming favorite to be the player Cleveland selects if they make the pick for about a month now. Ward sounded like a player who, if he didn't already know that he was going to be teammates with the Heisman Trophy winner, would certainly be more than happy if that turned out to be the result.
"Definitely, definitely," Ward said. "For sure. Yeah, I'll definitely welcome him. That's a great player, exceptional player, can make plays, offense, defense, put 'em out there and whoever we get, I'm open to whoever can come in and help this team win. I'm all for it trying to get to the playoffs, win the Super Bowl and win games around here so whoever helps us do that, I'm all for it."
The biggest question, wherever Hunter ends up being drafted, will always revolve around how the team uses him. Browns general manager Andrew Berry has compared his abilities as both a wide receiver and cornerback to Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, a player who is elite both as a position player and a pitcher in baseball.
Berry has said wide receiver is probably the side of the ball where his ball skills, balance and body control can all be best used. However, he said playing Hunter both ways was abolutely in the plans, should the Browns end up with him.
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Ward last played on both sides of the ball during his days at Nordonia High School. However, having spent the last eight years in the NFL, it's given him a perspective to know what the workload is for any player at a position.
"Anything's possible," Ward said. "I think it's possible though. I think it would have to be managed reps. I mean we work at different times, like offense is there one time and then we go off to the side and we're working on this side. But I mean, I feel they can manage the teams could manage the reps and go about it that way. I'm sure they'll come up with a game plan for it, but yeah, I think it's possible though."
So how would Ward, if he was advising Hunter, handle the transition to the NFL? Maybe not the way one would think a cornerback would go.
"I agree that he should start on offense first," Ward said. "I'll say, I think cornerback is easier in terms of learning the playbook. I think the offensive playbook is probably a little bit more difficult than a defensive playbook. But I think the cornerback position and playing corner is more difficult than playing the receiver position."
Hunter started his college career basically doing the opposite. He played 503 defensive snaps in 2022 as a freshman at Jackson State, compared to just 87 on offense.
The next season, Hunter's 1,044 combined snaps were divvied up significantly more evenly. He still leaned defense over offense, but the margin was 592-452.
Hunter's Heisman season last fall was almost a dead-even split. It was 688 on defense, compared to 672 on offense.
"I think he's an exceptional player and I think that seeing him on the field, he's able to do it in college so I would be excited to see him do it in the NFL as well," Ward said. "I mean you got to be open to seeing different things and that would be different. So it just takes one person to do it at an extremely high level. I know there's guys that played both ways here and there, but I'm rooting for him though."
That may come as Browns teammates in a very short time. If/when that happens, it will add a different dimension to those workouts Hunter wants to have with Ward.
When those workouts happen, how will Ward, the cornerback, react to Hunter, the wide receiver, trying to make a catch on him?
"Oh no. Oh no," Ward said. "That's not an option. Y'all see that. Y'all got to ask me about that, what happens, but nah, I can't allow that. Him or any other receiver."
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: Denzel Ward believes Travis Hunter can play both ways in NFL
Continue reading...
