INDIANAPOLIS — The Giants are so desperate for a quarterback, it’s easy to forget how desperate they are for a No. 1 corner.
If they trade for Matthew Stafford and draft Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter with the No. 3 overall pick, however, they could solve both problems and give Stafford an extra offensive weapon all in one.
Hunter, Colorado’s star corner and wide receiver, said Thursday at the NFL Combine that he wants to play “100%” of the snaps on both offense and defense in the pros, too.
And that’s what he is telling NFL teams in his meetings.
“I tell them I’m just different,” Hunter said. “If they give me the opportunity to play both sides, I want to play both sides. I’ve been doing it for a long time, so I think I can keep doing it.”
A majority of the Giants’ brass views Hunter as a corner, and the current depth chart doesn’t even have a clear No. 2 level CB, let alone a No. 1.
The Giants can hope that Deonte Banks eliminates his effort and performance issues from his game, for example, but they can’t count on it. And the corner room’s overall talent and depth are subpar.
So Joe Schoen and the Giants are poking around this week on the free agent corner market, including on the Minnesota Vikings’ Byron Murphy Jr., according to a source.
Murphy, 27, is coming off a Pro Bowl season with six interceptions. He played 672 snaps at outside corner, 325 in the slot and 99 near the line or in the box, per Pro Football Focus.
The Giants need to figure out what they’re doing at quarterback first, of course.
There are different scenarios for how they will be able to proceed in free agency depending on whether they land Stafford or not.
Acquiring Stafford would be a win in multiple ways, though, because it wouldn’t just immediately improve the offense and team leadership.
It would also give Schoen the freedom to pick a position player like Hunter at No. 3
And drafting Hunter on top of signing a vet like Murphy would be one intriguing way to give the secondary a much-needed facelift.
Some NFL coaches and scouts have said this week that they view Hunter the corner as more of a great athlete with specific talents rather than an obvious generational talent at the position.
But coaches who know Hunter rave about his character and coachability. And Hunter said one reason he was able to play both sides of the ball so well at Colorado was his diligent study, including “going up to the coaches’ office when nobody’s there.”
So having that mental aptitude to learn and pick up schemes could help a good and creative coach get a ton out of him.
One AFC coach said the more complicated challenge of learning a defensive system as a corner versus the task of running a route as a receiver is one reason why it would be important to make Hunter a corner first, even if he was used as a wideout.
Playing in a defense requires knowing the scheme, understanding how to react to opponents’ tendencies and teammates’ on-the-fly decisions and making game plan specific adjustments.
So in this coach’s opinion, it would be harder to have Hunter mostly in the receivers’ room and then expect him to shift and handle playing corner than the other way around.
Numerous league sources said, however, that any team drafting Hunter as a corner would be doing so with a plan already in mind for how to use him in the offense — at least in special packages if nothing else.
It would be ridiculous not to put the ball in his hands.
Hunter finished top five in the country last season with 96 catches for 1,258 receiving yards and 15 receiving touchdowns. That was on top of his four interceptions and 11 pass breakups on defense while allowing only 23 catches and one TD on 41 targets in coverage.
“I can get the ball in the end zone,” Hunter said Thursday.
Hunter’s dual threat makes him an exciting potential addition to the Giants, especially if it’s Stafford throwing him the ball on offense.
His confidence and sense of humor also were refreshing when he was asked who would win a rep if Hunter the corner was covering Hunter the receiver.
“Travis Hunter,” he said with a smile.
This is the type of exciting possibility that will open to the Giants if they resolve their quarterback position here in February and early March instead of in late April at the draft.