How Would You Feel About the Patriots Taking Hunter as WR?

[KCSVEN]

IMO, assuming good health, he's at worst a perennial pro bowl player at either position. At best he's a hall of fame player.
I love him more at WR with occasional CB because he can make a bigger impact at WR.
He has a unique talent to find holes in the defense. He's brilliant at it.
If he slides to 4 we should take 1 second to put his name in on the draft card. Do not overthink it..

 

[JohnJH]

If you guys can’t decide on what position he is, that’s a flag.

And, if he tells a team interviewing him what HE wants to do if he's drafted, that's also a Red Flag!

 

[Hugepatsfan]

IMO, assuming good health, he's at worst a perennial pro bowl player at either position. At best he's a hall of fame player.
I love him more at WR with occasional CB because he can make a bigger impact at WR.
He has a unique talent to find holes in the defense. He's brilliant at it.
If he slides to 4 we should take 1 second to put his name in on the draft card. Do not overthink it..

I don't think WR with occasional CB is realistic. The defensive side of the ball is more reactionary to what the offense is doing. At WR, you can tell a guy to learn a certain number of plays each week and what his route is at each, and maybe a few general audibles. On defense, your play calls and audibles are built to react to the opponent more so it takes more chemistry and coordination for the overall unit. You're not as in control over what's happening as you are on offense.

I think it'd be too difficult to actually assimilate himself into the defensive scheme as a part time player.

 

[yukon cornelius]

I don't think WR with occasional CB is realistic. The defensive side of the ball is more reactionary to what the offense is doing. At WR, you can tell a guy to learn a certain number of plays each week and what his route is at each, and maybe a few general audibles. On defense, your play calls and audibles are built to react to the opponent more so it takes more chemistry and coordination for the overall unit. You're not as in control over what's happening as you are on offense.

I think it'd be too difficult to actually assimilate himself into the defensive scheme as a part time player.

WR calls are just as reactionary, it's why Pop Douglas still struggles to get on the same page as his QB.......many/most routes are reactions to coverage as much as playcall - remember how many WRs came to NE and struggled to learn the offense?

 

[Hugepatsfan]

WR calls are just as reactionary, it's why Pop Douglas still struggles to get on the same page as his QB.......many/most routes are reactions to coverage as much as playcall - remember how many WRs came to NE and struggled to learn the offense?

Sure, as a full time player. But my point is that if you want to give a guy 10 snaps a game at WR you can control it way more. You can dumb down a WR's role for 10 players to a much greater extend than you can a CB because on defense you have no idea what's going to happen on the play since you don't control it like offense.

 

[Rob0729]

The Patriots should only consider Hunter as a WR. It is a wasted pick as a CB.

And the more the process goes along, the more I think you have to think of Hunter as one or the other when evaluating him. It is really unknown how much or even if he can play both ways at the NFL. The NFL and college are very different in preparation and terminology. Not sure a young player can handle playing both ways while acclimating to the NFL. Teams should go into it expecting that Hunter will be only playing on one side of the ball and any production on the other side will be gravy.

I am no draftnick. So I do not know how Hunter would rank as a pure receiver. But I think the Pats need to evaluate him as his value as a pure offensive player if he falls to them.

If the Giants draft him, they will draft him as a CB who can play WR. I think they may be disappointed in how much he can contribute on offense at least for the first few years.

 

[yukon cornelius]

Sure, as a full time player. But my point is that if you want to give a guy 10 snaps a game at WR you can control it way more. You can dumb down a WR's role for 10 players to a much greater extend than you can a CB because on defense you have no idea what's going to happen on the play since you don't control it like offense.

coverage calls are not that exotic for the defense......he's still going to have to know the offense and the defense, whether it is 10 plays or a full slate

 

[Hugepatsfan]

coverage calls are not that exotic for the defense......he's still going to have to know the offense and the defense, whether it is 10 plays or a full slate

I don't think I could disagree with you more here. How often do you see teams give up big plays because they were confused if they were supposed to pass off the receivers on the cross or confused if the safety was helping deep or not? Even if you just say "cover 3" there's still going to be nuance to that.

And for an offense, there is absolutely 100% nuance as well. Audibles, options routes, etc. But I stand by that you can reduce the mental load for a single receiver on a limited snap count if you need to. You can tell him hey, you're going to play this position in this formation. Here are the 5, 10, whatever play calls we're going to make and he's an audible on each one. It would never work full time because if one guy can't run a full array of checks/audibles then you'll be too vanilla, but on a limited snap basis you can make it work for one guy.

 

[hornetfb85]

Don’t overthink, draft the talent if available. 100% take Hunter if available, which he won’t be, so we won’t have to worry about it

 

[KCSVEN]

I don't think WR with occasional CB is realistic. The defensive side of the ball is more reactionary to what the offense is doing. At WR, you can tell a guy to learn a certain number of plays each week and what his route is at each, and maybe a few general audibles. On defense, your play calls and audibles are built to react to the opponent more so it takes more chemistry and coordination for the overall unit. You're not as in control over what's happening as you are on offense.

I think it'd be too difficult to actually assimilate himself into the defensive scheme as a part time player.

I don’t know, he’s doing it full-time now. Also, it would mainly be on third down so you’d only need to learn the third down packages.
The other team at 3rd and 8 is a lot easier to plan for than first and 10

Guy is very bright. I don’t see where that would be an issue at all.

 

[NormZauchin]

I would always pick Hunter if he drops to us. So many can't miss prospects fail to live up to their hype, but he is just too talented to fail at two positions.

Good point about Hunter being outstanding in at least one of the two positions. This makes him the least likely to be a bust of all the players in the draft.

 

[Kdo5]

I’m for it simply because there isn’t a guaranteed premier LT anywhere at the top. Campbell as we’ve heard could ultimately be a guard in the NFL. Carter is my first choice, Hunter the second.

 

[Huckleberry1]

I’m sorry you fell in love and can’t quit him

If you are talking to me then you must not realize that I have been prioritizing the lines all offseason. But unlike you I’m able to recognize a great player for being a great player, whereas your biases and ignorance about him are shining through. Hunter is one of the players I love at 4, and I’ll be happy if they get him there.

 

[lancerman]

If you are talking to me then you must not realize that I have been prioritizing the lines all offseason. But unlike you I’m able to recognize a great player for being a great player, whereas your biases and ignorance about him are shining through. Hunter is one of the players I love at 4, and I’ll be happy if they get him there.

I’m wasn’t talking to you

 

[Huckleberry1]

I’m wasn’t talking to you

OK.

 

[TommyD4207]

I just want him figure out the role later

This is the right answer. Get the best player in the draft signed on the dotted line. Sweat the details after.

 

[TommyD4207]

If you guys can’t decide on what position he is, that’s a red flag.

It's not, here's the thing. He's simultaneously the best receiver and best cornerback in the draft. That's a nice red flag to have, yeah?

If you're opposed to having him play full-time at both positions, then he's a corner you play 15 snaps at receiver as well.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

With Carter injured, Hunter will most likely not be there at 4. We are looking at Graham or Walker.

 

[PatriotSpy]

Getting the Shohei Ohtani of football would make me giddy.

 

[Ray Ray 717]

No, absolutely not. Let somebody else be the first to deal with a Neon Deion coached player. Wherever we end up in the first round, we need trench warriors. OL or DL, we're lacking.

Yeah because drafting another Isiah Wynn will really help take our rookie franchise QB to the next level

This isn’t 1985, you need stars who can score touchdowns. Our offense is the worst in the NFL because we have zero playmakers at wide receiver.