We’re staring right down the home stretch of the ‘25 NFL Draft cycle. With mere days left until the day of reckoning, discourse has begun to relax a little. There’s not much contention about how the chips will fall- well, at least within the top 3 picks. Every hypothetical has been explored and every ancillary branch has largely been funneled into a consensus harmony. It’s one of those rare instances in sport where people actually agree. However, one football savant and analyst has thrown a late spanner in the works.
There’s been some very credible reporting around what the first 3 franchises on the clock will do with their picks. The Tennessee Titans are almost assuredly drafting QB Cam Ward 1st overall to turn their fortunes after the team just had their worst season in a decade. Lately, reports that the Cleveland Browns shall pick 2-way unicorn Travis Hunter next have gained traction. Followed by the NY Giants drafting EDGE Abdul Carter #3. Pick a random draftnik’s projections over the past week and you’d see this exact hierarchy. But the draft is never as straightforward as this. The only thing consistent with reporting around it is how inconsistent it is. Front offices and coaches almost intentionally put out fallacies to throw their contemporaries off. This could, very well, be smoke and mirrors. Which is where Adam Breneman and his alternative reality come in.
The Cleveland Browns have perennially been stuck in NFL purgatory. An afterthought in the grand scheme of things. Sans a few seasons of prominence courtesy of Myles Garrett, the team has been a bridesmaid in the brutal AFC North. Being in a division with 2 of the best quarterbacks in the sport means you need one yourself to be competitive. But Deshaun Watson’s failed to reciprocate the trust and onus bestowed on him. That trade and fully guaranteed contract have hamstrung the Browns so badly that only a QB on the rookie scale can propel them out of their misery. Conceded, Travis Hunter is a generational prospect. Arguably the best in this entire class. Passing on him is very difficult to justify. However, he cannot be as much of a floor-raiser as a QB will be for this team. Which lends into Adam Breneman’s biggest potential “shock” on draft night.
In an appearance on the “Show About Sports”, the former All-American TE was asked, “Is there anything that you see across the board that could shock people?” In reply, Breneman proposed a scenario that’s quite rational. “Cleveland needs a quarterback, right? But Cam Ward’s going number 1 to Tennessee. That gives Cleveland the hottest ticket to draft. I could see Cleveland trading out of that #2 spot if the Raiders or the Cowboys are dying to come up and take a guy like Hunter,” he remarked. There are two main pillars of support that make this a reasonable take. One, just how good Travis Hunter is. The idea of getting a multi-faceted player who plays on both offense and defense is sure magnetic enough to throw the kitchen sink at the Browns and trade up. Which segues into pillar #2, the people involved.
Tom Brady and Jerry Jones, for the Raiders and Cowboys respectively, hold the authority to make that trade. Brady’s trying to resuscitate a franchise that really needs a spark after relocation. A face to usher in this new era. Travis Hunter and his star power fit that mould. As for Jerry, cmon. It’s Jerry Jones. Would you put it past him to chase the shiniest toy at this proverbial toy store? Not really. “[The Browns can] think about moving back to #6 in a trade with the Raiders…give them at least one more quality pick, maybe even another first-rounder,” proceeded Breneman. “I could see them trading back, and then that could be the place to take Shedeur Sanders, if they love him. So I could see that playing out. I don’t know if I’d be totally shocked.”
It’s worth reiterating that this was merely a potential alternative. Something that ‘could’ happen, not necessarily what Adam Breneman reckons ‘will’ happen. He also shared his views on Travis Hunter in a vacuum, outside of trade scenarios and landing spots. As well as the biggest talking point around him- his role, and whether it’ll shrink to one side of the football.
Adam Breneman is one with the masses on Travis Hunter’s role in the NFL
Later in the aforementioned video, Adam Breneman was asked, “What is your take on versatility at the [NFL] level?” Although it seems simple, this is a fairly loaded question that Breneman leveraged some great insight on. “When someone’s extremely versatile, I think of it as, ‘You have a really high ceiling, but you also have a pretty low floor.’ Because you’re not sure where exactly they fit in,” he said. Travis Hunter’s versatility is what makes him the blue-chip prospect he is. But there’s a fine line between versatility and confusion. Could his biggest gift actually become a curse?
Travis Hunter has been very explicit in stating he wants to play both wide receiver and cornerback in the NFL. In fact, he even claimed he’ll hang up his cleats and call it a day on his career if he was limited to one position! Breneman, having watched him closely in college, believes Hunter will indeed play both sides. “I think he will play both ways in the NFL,” he said. “I think sometimes the word ‘versatility’ is used to really mean, ‘We don’t know where he fits.’ [But] Travis Hunter’s versatility is a strength…Travis is the epitome of what it means to be versatile.”
Whether the Browns stick to their guns and draft Travis Hunter, or whether he becomes somebody else’s puzzle to solve. Breneman isn’t the only media member to suggest Jerry Jones could make a charge at Hunter. If teams can figure out the ideal role for him, the sky really is the limit. As cliched as that sounds, it’s true. Hunter going 2nd overall is pretty much a foregone conclusion. Whom to? Not quite as solidified.
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