Champ Bailey: What makes Travis Hunter so special — and why he’s going to have to pick a side
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Jeff Legwold, ESPN Senior Writer
Champ Bailey always keeps a keen eye out for “the Georgia guys,” players who grew up in the state or played at the University of Georgia. After all, Bailey played high-school ball in the small Georgia town of Folkston and was an All-American for the Bulldogs before his Hall-of-Fame NFL career.
This season, one of those “Georgia guys” is the Heisman Trophy favorite and a top prospect for the 2025 NFL draft — and a common comp to Bailey.
Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter — a native of Suwanee, Georgia — has captivated the college football landscape by dominating on both sides of the ball. On offense, Hunter has 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns. On defense, he has 33 tackles, four interceptions, 10 pass breakups and a forced fumble. In Colorado’s regular-season finale against Oklahoma State, Hunter became the only FBS player over the past 25 seasons with three scrimmage touchdowns and a defensive INT in a single game, per ESPN Research.
“He’s doing things you probably won’t see again,” Bailey said.
Few can relate to what Hunter has done and will likely try to do in the NFL better than Bailey. In his final season at UGA in 1998, Bailey won the Bronko Nagurski Award as the nation’s best defensive player, picking off three passes at cornerback. But he also caught 47 passes for 744 yards and five touchdowns as a receiver in the Bulldogs’ offense. He topped 1,000 snaps that season and finished seventh in Heisman voting. But Bailey would play almost exclusively cornerback in the NFL after being drafted seventh overall by Washington in 1999, seeing nine targets at receiver over a 15-year career.
Because of his unique perspective, we asked Bailey to weigh in on what makes Hunter so special, why playing both sides of the ball is so difficult and what lies ahead for the Buffaloes’ star in the pre-draft process. Can Hunter — who could be awarded the Heisman Trophy on Saturday (8 p.m. ET on ESPN) — do something that Bailey didn’t in his NFL career and play both offense and defense at the next level? Here’s Bailey’s take, in his own words.
Jump to Bailey on:
Hunter’s immense talent
Difficulties of playing two ways
What could happen in the pros
What does Bailey see in Hunter?
The scouting reports for Hunter and Bailey read similarly, albeit 26 years apart. Hunter is listed at 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, while Bailey measured 6-foot, 184 pounds at the 1999 combine. The two also share great speed, explosive traits and ball skills. Bailey has spent time watching Hunter play and sees a future star.
Bailey: He just loves football. You can see it by the way he plays — he’s the ultimate competitor. No player is going to last very long at one position, let alone two, if he doesn’t love the game.
Travis is probably more refined in coverage than I was at that age. He has been schooled better at this point — I mean, his coach is Deion Sanders, one of the best to ever play corner. His hands are in the right place, his eyes are in the right place, and he understands route concepts and where the ball is going. His interceptions are often because he’s going to the spot he knows where the ball is going.
The big difference between me and Travis? People could see him coming more. A lot of guys play both ways in high school, return kicks and punts, play in the band at halftime. And they get to college and the coaches who recruited them — who said they loved the versatility — now tell them the second day of camp, ‘You’re here, you’re here,’ and that’s it. But people could see Travis coming. He did it at Jackson State before transferring in 2023, and Prime said he was going to let him do it at Colorado. So there wasn’t even a question from his coach.
I kind of built up, though. I showed I could do it, played some offense my first year, some more my second year and did the whole thing my last year.
Why is playing both ways so difficult?
Hunter has played 1,380 snaps in 12 games this season, including 670 on offense, 686 on defense and 24 on special teams. That’s 382 more snaps than the next-most active player in the FBS, and he topped 100 snaps in 10 of those 12 games. It’s an incredible workload, especially when you consider Hunter had 1,007 snaps in the previous season.
The most active NFL players routinely crack 1,000 snaps in a healthy season playing on just one side of the ball, though. The two-way workload in the pros would be significantly larger, even before factoring in the off-field preparation.
Bailey: In my last season at Georgia, I returned kickoffs and punts, played corner and played wide receiver — they didn’t hold me out of anything. If the ball was out there, I was out there.
I wanted to play both sides of the ball when I got to the league, too, and had some chances to line up and play some offense. But I think the difficulty of really doing it is hard to comprehend.
As you go from high school to college, and college to the NFL, the preparation becomes a big thing for the coaches. You start playing all the snaps on one side of the ball and a lot of snaps on the other and maybe some special teams, but coaches don’t really know what you’re going through. They haven’t done it because not many have. So you’re trying to show them you’re prepared enough to be out there and that you can hold up. That takes convincing.
There isn’t enough said about the accountability that comes with what Hunter is doing, too. Playing both ways means putting extra stuff on your plate, and people are counting on you to do it, so it can’t just be something you want to try. That mental pressure will take the biggest toll unless you really love what you’re doing and go all in. And beyond the physical aspect — which is an immense challenge in itself — you also have to be proficient in two different playbooks. Other guys might have had the talent to do what he’s doing, but we never find out because they don’t have the mentality to really commit to doing it.
I spent most of my time on defense in practice and meetings, and I would get into the offense for specific things. I think my coaches looked at me as the corner who was good enough to put out there at wide receiver, and I studied enough to do it. Offense was more about study time than getting reps on the field or being in all the meetings. I mean, everybody meets at the same time in position groups before team meetings, so you can’t be in everything. Some of it falls on faith you’ll do the work.
You have to be extremely athletic to do what he’s doing and keep focus in his preparation. But aside from all of that is the snap count. The extreme number of snaps he’s playing, the wear and tear and what it takes for him to sustain that — to train for what his body is about to go through.
One thing I dealt with a lot was cramping — there’s a lot of humidity in the SEC. I’d get an IV at halftime of every game, and that became a thing. But I don’t think I actually sat on the bench, even for a second, more than three times all season because I was also on special teams. You have moments where you’re just so tired. But I didn’t even take my helmet off very often.
However, I look at Travis, and guys are so much more informed about offseason prep and the recovery game to game, season to season. It’s way beyond where we were 20-some years ago.
What comes next for Hunter?
When Washington drafted Bailey, he believed there would be at least some two-way play in his NFL future. But he ultimately played corner — both in Washington and later in Denver — seeing six career offensive touches (four catches, two rushes). Can Hunter play both sides in the NFL?
Bailey: My conversations with people before the draft were basically, “You’re a corner, and we’ll find some things on offense for you.” And that’s kind of how I saw it early on. Based on the structure of the meetings and the level of trust a coach needs to see to put you out there, it just wasn’t going to be full-time on both sides for me, no matter what.
In my second year, coach Norv Turner got fired midway through the season. I think if Norv was the coach longer, I would have played offense more in my early years. I believe that. So for Travis, it’s all about who his coach is in the NFL and how much they think is possible. No matter what you can do on the field, the head coach controls the schedule and how you practice. But I say all that, and it’s really not far-fetched that he’ll at least get a shot to try playing both ways.
1:51
Travis Hunter makes strong Heisman case with 3 TDs, INT
Colorado’s Travis Hunter puts up a Heisman-worthy performance against Oklahoma State with three touchdowns and an interception.
If I was that coach making the decision, I’d ask Travis to play full-time corner first because it is far more difficult to find a player like him at CB with all he brings to the position. He is a gifted receiver, no question — a superior receiver. But to find him at corner is so, so rare. He has ball skills, speed, flexibility, quickness, intelligence and tackling ability, and he’s competitive every down.
Corner is also less dependent on the structure around you. You are a part of a defense, but there is a solitude to some of the job in the assignments. His work at receiver will be so dependent on the offensive structure, the quarterback and the O-line; it’s a little more connected. More things have to line up at receiver for him to show all of his skills. And in the meetings, I think it would be more efficient for him to primarily work on defense and get into the offensive meetings he needs to for certain things.
I think his greatest arc for finding success while trying to play both offense and defense is going full-time 100 percent at corner, and then getting some situational work at receiver. I hope he gets a chance to do whatever he wants.
The advantage he has is, whatever he plays, he’s going to be one of the best in the league.
Sports
Ranking the Red Sox’s options at first base: Devers back in the infield? A prospect moving positions?
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Buster Olney
The Boston Red Sox front office dreamed that this would be the year that Triston Casas would fully blossom, mashing 30 homers and fully exploiting Fenway Park’s dimensions in a way that other left-handed hitters have. But Casas is out for the year after rupturing his left patellar tendon — and now manager Alex Cora must find a replacement.
But this is not a situation in which the Red Sox have to scramble for help outside the organization. Evaluators with other teams scan Boston’s big league roster and organizational depth and believe the Red Sox are in a strong position, with a lot of options.
Based on feedback from front office-types, scouts and major league staffers, here are the best first-base options for the Red Sox, in order of collective preference of those we spoke to.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Cora said he hadn’t asked Devers about a move to first, and some rival evaluators believe that makes sense due to the political complications. After Devers was surprised by the late-winter signing of Alex Bregman and initially rejected the idea of moving from third base, Devers eventually went along with a shift to designated hitter.
“He already made one big change, so it’d be tough to ask him to do another in-season,” one evaluator said. “Leave him at DH and let him get comfortable there.”
Said another: “He’s gone all-in at designated hitter.”
But that doesn’t preclude Devers from knocking on Cora’s door and telling his manager he would like to move, which could be the best-case scenario for the Red Sox. And in doing this, Devers could be embracing the inevitable — because eventually, he’s probably going to move to first base. Devers is in the third year of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract that runs through 2033.
“Are you ever going to move him back to third base after getting him off that spot?” one rival official asked rhetorically. “And he’s too young [28] to be settling into a full-time DH role. It’s better for him if you get him out in the field.”
It doesn’t have to happen all at once. If Devers volunteers, he could start taking ground balls for a week or two and then gradually play at first, getting back into the kind of shape necessary to play in the field regularly.
There would be natural concerns about his defense at a new position, but a couple of evaluators noted that Devers’ primary defensive problem at third base was in throwing, something he would do far less at first. At the very least, Devers would be wholly accustomed to the speed of the game for a corner infielder.
“I don’t think he would be bad over there,” one evaluator said. “It’s not like he was a total zero at third base. He was OK at times.”
If Devers were to play first, that would open the DH spot for Cora to use as a resting spot for position players dealing with weariness or nagging injuries and creating an opening for Roman Anthony or Marcelo Mayer to be promoted.
2. Marcelo Mayer
His future with the Red Sox is as a middle infielder, but there is precedent in Boston’s history of using a star prospect as a stop-gap solution. In 2013, the Red Sox needed a third baseman and promoted shortstop Xander Bogaerts to play the spot, and they went on to win the World Series. For Mayer to move from shortstop to first base would be a more dramatic change, but one staffer believes he could do this with relative ease.
“He’s athletic enough to do it,” the staffer said, “and he’d hold down the position offensively. You’d have some growing pains on defense, but he’s played on the right side of the infield before [at second] and he would hit enough to make it work.
“That’s the thing — they need offense from that position. If they weren’t trying to win, you wouldn’t think about it. But they are trying to win and it’s something you consider.”
Mayer is currently playing for Triple-A Worcester, though Red Sox fans are eager to see him with the major league team.
“It’d work for [Mayer] because it would get him to the big leagues right away,” the staffer concluded.
3. Give Romy Gonzalez and Abraham Toro a full shot to share the first base job
Gonzalez and Toro have been the two players to get reps at first base since Casas went down Friday night, with Gonzalez owning the biggest share of those — though, he exited Wednesday night’s win and is day-to-day after colliding with Texas Rangers first baseman Josh Smith while trying to beat out an infield hit.
Gonzalez is a right-handed hitter who’s been a good player for the Red Sox over the past two seasons and is batting .308 in 58 plate appearances this season. The utilityman had played only 20 games at first base at the big league level coming into this season, so the best that Cora could hope for would probably be league average defense. Gonzalez doesn’t hit for much power, but he will get on base regularly, if he can stay healthy. Toro is a switch-hitter who has played 368 games with five different teams, generating a career adjusted OPS+ of 80.
However, it seems more likely the Red Sox look for more thump at what is a power position.
4. Move Kristian Campbell from second base to first, with Marcelo Mayer getting a shot to win the second base job
Campbell is seen by one scout as “primarily an offensive player.”
“He’s going to hit,” the scout said. “He’s not especially good at any one spot defensively. He’s moved around a lot in his career, and he’d be fine at first.”
Campbell has played the infield plenty in his time in baseball, and at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, he would present a good target for other infielders at first. And Mayer did have a brief audition at second base in spring training.
However, one evaluator said that Campbell has already been learning one new position this season and asking him to learn another could be too much — and the Red Sox might be better just leaving him at second and allowing him to get comfortable at the plate.
5. Move Trevor Story to first base and promote Mayer to play shortstop
This was raised by ESPN analyst Eduardo Perez on the “Baseball Tonight” podcast. But as difficult as it was to ask Devers to move off third base, it might be even more complicated getting Story to buy into the idea of moving to first. He’s under contract for two more seasons after this year at $25 million annually, and he’s been a shortstop for almost all of his 10-year career.
Additionally: If the Red Sox are going to affect a major change, they’ll do it to enhance their offense — and Story hasn’t been a big run-producer. Over 105 games in the past three seasons, he’s slashing .233/.287/.354.
6. Move one of the outfielders to first — either Wilyer Abreu or rising star prospect Roman Anthony
Some rival evaluators believe this is the worst possible option because you would be asking two high-end outfielders to learn to play infield on the fly.
“What a waste that would be,” one scout said. “Anthony is going to be a star — a guy who hits .280 with 28-30 homers, and he can really play the outfield. A total waste. They’ve got enough guys in the infield to move somebody else there.”
7. Vaughn Grissom
The infielder acquired in the trade of Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves, Grissom was hurt much of last year, batting .191 in 31 games for the Red Sox. In Triple-A this season, he’s hitting a respectable .260/.343/.398. But two evaluators with other teams believe that there wouldn’t be much of a difference between the Gonzalez/Toro platoon and what Grissom could provide offensively.
“They’d probably just go with the guys who are in the big leagues already,” one staffer said.
With all four second-round series officially underway after the Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets played Game 1 on Wednesday, we now have a sense of all eight clubs. Will the two home teams from Tuesday night reverse course after losing in Game 1?
First up are the Washington Capitals, who lost 2-1 in OT to the Carolina Hurricanes; those two square off again Thursday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. The nightcap features the Vegas Golden Knights hosting the Edmonton Oilers (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) after the visitors prevailed 4-2 on Tuesday.
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, a recap of what went down in Wednesday’s games and the three stars of Wednesday from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
Carolina Hurricanes at Washington Capitals
Game 2 | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN
The odds have shifted sharply after the Canes took Game 1 in D.C.: the opening series odds were Hurricanes -195, Capitals +165. Now it’s Hurricanes -425, Capitals +300.
Jaccob Slavin had the OT game winner in Game 1, his first career playoff winning goal. There have been three other defensemen in Hurricanes/Whalers franchise history with a playoff overtime goal: Niclas Wallin (who scored three), plus one each for Tim Gleason and Ian Cole.
The Canes allowed 14 shots on goal in Game 1, the fewest allowed by any team in the playoffs this season and the second fewest allowed by Carolina in a playoff game in franchise history (12, in the 2024 first round vs. the Islanders).
Alex Ovechkin was held to one shot on goal in Game 1, snapping a streak of 18 games (regular season and playoffs) with multiple shots on goal. The last time he was held to one or fewer shots on goal in consecutive games was last year’s playoff series against the Rangers.
Pierre-Luc Dubois has now gone 10 games without scoring a goal (dating back to the regular season). His last goal? April 10 against the Hurricanes.
Edmonton Oilers at Vegas Golden Knights
Game 2 | 9:30 p.m. ET | ESPN
This series opened as a pick ’em, with both teams at -110 odds to win. After the Oilers’ Game 1 victory, they are now the favorites at -225, while the Golden Knights are now +190.
Connor McDavid‘s 39 playoff goals are seventh in Oilers history, behind Jari Kurri (92), Glenn Anderson (81), Wayne Gretzky (81), Mark Messier (80), Esa Tikkanen (51) and current teammate Leon Draisaitl (45).
Edmonton defenseman Evan Bouchard scored six goals in the Oilers’ run to Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, and he already has four goals through seven games this postseason.
With two goals in Game 1, Mark Stone now has 36 playoff goals since joining the Knights beginning in 2018-19. That is tied with Edmonton’s Zach Hyman for fifth in the NHL during that span, behind Nathan MacKinnon (50), Draisaitl (39), Mikko Rantanen (39) and Brayden Point (37).
According to Stathletes, the line of Stone, Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev has allowed more scoring chances against (seven) than it has generated (six) during the playoffs. In the regular season, the differential was 112-77 in Vegas’ favor with those three on the ice.
Öcal’s three stars from Wednesday
Another NHL record for “Moose.” He became the first player in NHL history with two single-period hat tricks in the same postseason. There have been only three other players with multiple playoff hat tricks in their career: Wayne Gretzky (three), Maurice Richard (three), Tim Kerr (two).
The former Canadiens captain scored the first goal and added an assist on William Nylander‘s goal in the second. He now has three-game point streak for the first time since 2021.
Scored the clutch third-period goal 17 seconds after the Panthers had tied the score, taking Game 2 and giving the Leafs a 2-0 series lead.
Wednesday’s recaps
Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Florida Panthers 3
TOR leads 2-0 | Game 3 Friday
With neither team willing to give an inch, Game 2 was another close final result. The Panthers struck first in this one, via a first-period power-play goal from Aleksander Barkov, answered later in the first by Max Pacioretty. Old Maple Leafs nemesis Brad Marchand scored 15 seconds into the second, followed by William Nylander notching his sixth of the postseason at 4:18. The score would remain tied until Max Domi scored his first regulation goal of the playoffs with under three minutes left in the second. Anton Lundell drew the Panthers even at 3-3 early in the third, but new father Mitch Marner scored the game-winning goal just 17 seconds later. Full recap.
1:27
Mitch Marner answers Panthers’ tying goal to clinch Game 2
Anton Lundell and Mitch Marner notch goals 17 seconds apart as Toronto maintains the lead.
Dallas Stars 3, Winnipeg Jets 2
DAL leads 1-0 | Game 2 Friday
As has happened in many Game 1s this postseason, the two teams went scoreless in the first period, measuring one another for the fight. Winnipeg’s Nino Niederreiter got the party started 3:30 into the second, but then the Mikko Rantanen Show began. The Finnish forward scored a natural hat trick — that’s two straight games with a hat trick — putting the Stars up 3-1. Mark Scheifele scored his third of the postseason at the tail end of the second, but the Jets could not get the equalizer despite a furious effort in the third. Full recap.
1:09
Stars desperately defend net in Jets 3rd-period onslaught
Jake Oettinger and company crowd the goal to keep the Jets from tying the score.
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