Ravens HC Shares Thoughts on Colorado's Rare Superstar

It's been a very, very long time since an NFL player regularly played, and excelled, on both sides of the ball. That may be about to change.

Colorado Buffaloes cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter is one of the top prospects in next week's NFL Draft, and he's made it very clear that he wants to keep playing on both sides at the professional level. His insistence has sparked a debate among pundits, with some believing he can do it and others believing the wear and tear of the NFL makes it too difficult to keep up.

For Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, the stresses of playing on both sides just seem too great in the modern NFL.

"That's a great point," Harbaugh told reporters Tuesday. "It's going to be interesting to see how they do it wherever [Hunter] goes, but to say that you're going to be completely immersed in everything that there is to know on offense and everything there is to know on defense."

"I don't know if there are enough hours in the day for a player to be able to do that and to have every detail locked down, but you certainly can do it on one side of the ball and then have some sort of a package on the other side of the ball, which my guess is how the team will do it, wherever he goes, but I assume we'll be playing against him. So, we're about to find out how that team does it."

Hunter is undoubtedly a special talent. He was easily the number one recruit coming out of high school, he emerged as a star at both Jackson State and Colorado, and even won the Heisman Trophy last season after dominating on both sides of the ball. If anyone's going to end the drought of two-way stars, it will be him.

Again though, doing so in the modern NFL is a very tall order, even for an athlete like him.

The good news is that Hunter is pretty much a lock to go in the top five, with most mock drafts sending him to the Cleveland Browns at number two overall, so whichever team takes him will likely have a need at both receiver and corner. He also says every team he's met with has supported him in his goal to play both ways, so perhaps he can do it after all.