Davante Adams wants Travis Hunter to succeed, doubts anyone can play both ways long-term

NBC Sports

a day ago

Davante Adams knows how hard it can be on a wide receiver's body to play game after game for a decade. And that's why Adams doubts that Jaguars rookie Travis Hunter can have a long career playing both wide receiver and cornerback.
Adams was asked on The Pivot Podcast which players he's most looking forward to seeing this season, and he named Hunter as his top choice.
'One, Travis Hunter. I want to see Travis Hunter do his thing,' Adams said.
But Adams said that while he's impressed with Hunter becoming a superstar two-way player in college at Colorado, Adams has his doubts that even a player of Hunter's talent can be an elite contributor on both offense and defense.
'I don't even think it's possible to do, for real. Not at a high level,' Adams said.
Adams said he could see Hunter having an impact early in his career on both sides of the ball, but questions whether it's fair to him to expect him to take the wear and tear on his body of being a full-time player on both offense and defense.
'I'm not even concerned so much if he can do it over the course of a game or season, it's more like how long is his career going to be if he's playing that many snaps?' Adams said. 'Once you get out there playing both sides, now you have to tackle. You've got to tackle Derrick Henry with that frame.'
A handful of players in modern football have played significant snaps on both offense and defense, but no one has had a long career as a full-time contributor on both sides of the ball in more than half a century. If there's anyone who can do it, it's Hunter. But Adams doubts there's anyone who can do it.