If patriots lose out, Travis Hunter could be theirs

[KCSVEN]

This is what I'm saying! He's not going to bobble it off his hands for a pick.

 

[lancerman]

But he is the best WR in the draft. He won't play both CB and WR in the NFL.

He has proven to have both the athleticism and commitment to be great. You can't teach commitment and determination to be great

He's not. As a pure WR prospect Tet is way better. There's a lot of clear flaws with him as a WR. He's undersized, he struggles to break off college defenders at the point of attack. He can easily get rerouted. Those are all issues that will compound in the NFL against bigger and stronger athletes who have spent years perfecting their craft to bully guys like Hunter before they can break out. His speed is really the advantage he has. He's probably a solid Brandin Cooks comp. A guy who can contribute because of raw speed and can catch, but is always going to be a sort of low WR1 high WR2. That's if he pans out.

Tet has more qualities you want. He's bigger overall, he has insane body control and fluidity, he's incredible after catch, he's going to be a mismatch most of the time. Better hands. The only thing Hunter has over him is top end speed and Tet is not slow by any means, just not out of this world fast.

Frankly, nobody is looking at Hunter as a WR. He hits almost every checkbox as a CB, and even then a healthy Johnson is probably the better pure CB in the draft. A CB will also allow him to be in a few WR packages. Being a pure WR doesn't really offer that.

Edit: oh and btw this is not even remotely close to as good of a WR draft as last year. Even Tet wouldn't have been first or second overall last year. Hunter might have been late first round as a pure WR prospect

 

[Jovak]

Even if the Pats lose the last 3 games, they may end up with a worse draft position because they play their games against 3 winning teams, so their Strength of Schedule will increase allowing Jac and Car to draft before the Pats.

 

[Grogan14]

If panthers or jags hop over the pats one of them will take hunter for sure

 

[Huckleberry1]

To be clear. When I say trade back. I'm talking like going from pick 3 to pick 7. And getting a first and a second for your troubles because someone desperately wants whatever player you have there.

That's the only consideration I'd give for moving backwards. It's not going to be a BB special where we trade our first for a future first and call it a day.

What do you mean by “ get a first and a second” ?

Do you mean get their first round pick and a second round pick?

 

[Huckleberry1]

Even if the Pats lose the last 3 games, they may end up with a worse draft position because they play their games against 3 winning teams, so their Strength of Schedule will increase allowing Jac and Car to draft before the Pats.

This is true, and it could push them down as far as 6th or 7th pick, at which point you just take the best OT.

 

[festy1986]

What do you mean by “ get a first and a second” ?

Do you mean get their first round pick and a second round pick?

Yup. You're not moving out of a top slot where someone is trading up for a desperately needed QB because teams ahead of them need a QB as well.

You're not trading out of a top 3 spot without fleece like when Washington traded up for rg3 or Panthers trading to Chicago a couple years ago.

 

[mgteich]

I would trade down to about 7-8 for a 1st round pick in 26’, that way they could get Banks or Campbell. I would not trade down for a 2nd round pick in this draft, which is the CD equivalent of last years 3rd round pick. If that deal could not be made I would take Hunter.

Yiu mean that you would TRY to get a 2026 1st for moving down to 7 or 8, and EXPECT one of the OT's is available, hopefully not the player who will likely be a guard.
=====
Yes, I would jump to move down to 7 or 8 if I could get a 2026 1st in return.

 

[gobesmug]

He's not. As a pure WR prospect Tet is way better. There's a lot of clear flaws with him as a WR. He's undersized, he struggles to break off college defenders at the point of attack. He can easily get rerouted. Those are all issues that will compound in the NFL against bigger and stronger athletes who have spent years perfecting their craft to bully guys like Hunter before they can break out. His speed is really the advantage he has. He's probably a solid Brandin Cooks comp. A guy who can contribute because of raw speed and can catch, but is always going to be a sort of low WR1 high WR2. That's if he pans out.

Tet has more qualities you want. He's bigger overall, he has insane body control and fluidity, he's incredible after catch, he's going to be a mismatch most of the time. Better hands. The only thing Hunter has over him is top end speed and Tet is not slow by any means, just not out of this world fast.

Frankly, nobody is looking at Hunter as a WR. He hits almost every checkbox as a CB, and even then a healthy Johnson is probably the better pure CB in the draft. A CB will also allow him to be in a few WR packages. Being a pure WR doesn't really offer that.

Edit: oh and btw this is not even remotely close to as good of a WR draft as last year. Even Tet wouldn't have been first or second overall last year. Hunter might have been late first round as a pure WR prospect

You are speaking nonsense.

First Travis Hunter is 6.1".

Second, he is very physical and made plenty of contested catches, and is a big hitter on defense.

Third. Tet is grossly overrated. He got half his TDs on the season in 1 game along with 300 yards against a terrible team. Most of his routes are go routes with the occasional comeback or crosser. He is slow and has nothing suddent about his game. He looks like a poor man's version of Mike Evans, or another Nkeal Harry clone.

Your analysis of Hunter sounds like it was based off his 2023 campaign at WR, which was not great as he rarely had separation and took a lot of hits. His routes were more basic as well as they seemed to be either go routes or quick plants to get the ball in his hands. He took a lot of big hits as he looked like he didn't know how to catch in space and make a defender miss, and telegraph his catches.

His 2024 campaign was vastly different, he ran all routes, learned how to make subtle movements at the point of attack to avoid hits.

Hunter looks a lot more pro ready than Tet. Tet benefited a lot from broken coverage and soft zones.

 

[lancerman]

You are speaking nonsense.

First Travis Hunter is 6.1".

Second, he is very physical and made plenty of contested catches, and is a big hitter on defense.

Third. Tet is grossly overrated. He got half his TDs on the season in 1 game along with 300 yards against a terrible team. Most of his routes are go routes with the occasional comeback or crosser. He is slow and has nothing suddent about his game. He looks like a poor man's version of Mike Evans, or another Nkeal Harry clone.

Your analysis of Hunter sounds like it was based off his 2023 campaign at WR, which was not great as he rarely had separation and took a lot of hits. His routes were more basic as well as they seemed to be either go routes or quick plants to get the ball in his hands. He took a lot of big hits as he looked like he didn't know how to catch in space and make a defender miss, and telegraph his catches.

His 2024 campaign was vastly different, he ran all routes, learned how to make subtle movements at the point of attack to avoid hits.

Hunter looks a lot more pro ready than Tet. Tet benefited a lot from broken coverage and soft zones.

Pure and simple there is a zero percent chance an team that drafts him plays him as a pure WR. He's coming in as a CB.

He's had issues with physical defensive backs jamming him all year and he gets rerouted by bigger backs. That's consistent. He's fast and he is great at acceleration when he gets the ball. Tet is far better at contested catches. He has by far the biggest catch radius of any of the prospects in the draft.

You will find very few if any scouting reports that have Hunter viewed as a better WR than Tet. Hell very few ranking are even considering him at WR.

 

[gobesmug]

Pure and simple there is a zero percent chance an team that drafts him plays him as a pure WR. He's coming in as a CB.

He's had issues with physical defensive backs jamming him all year and he gets rerouted by bigger backs. That's consistent. He's fast and he is great at acceleration when he gets the ball. Tet is far better at contested catches. He has by far the biggest catch radius of any of the prospects in the draft.

You will find very few if any scouting reports that have Hunter viewed as a better WR than Tet. Hell very few ranking are even considering him at WR.

Yeah and all those expert scouts had Caleb Williams over Jayden Daniel's and Drake Maye. They also had Young over Stroud. I don't care what "experts" say. I trust my eyes.

I do agree it comes down to which team drafts Hunter. A CB needy team will push him that route.

If not Hunter, then definitely not Tet. He is not worth a top 5 pick.

 

[TinhWoodhead]

can we draft a new hc

 

[mgteich]

After we sign Higgins and sign another Bourne level WR, do folks think that we would/should still draft Hunter?

 

[mgteich]

If Hunter is rated by other teams as the all-world player folks here think that he is, we should be able to get good compensation for the pick.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Yup. You're not moving out of a top slot where someone is trading up for a desperately needed QB because teams ahead of them need a QB as well.

You're not trading out of a top 3 spot without fleece like when Washington traded up for rg3 or Panthers trading to Chicago a couple years ago.

That’s not getting a 1st and a 2nd, that’s swapping your first for a worse 1st round pick, for a 2nd round pick in a weak draft. No thanks. What another team wants to do with that pick is irrelevant, if they want it then it takes a 1st round pick in either this draft ( which means 2 1st round picks) or a 1st in next year’s draft.

 

[Huckleberry1]

After we sign Higgins and sign another Bourne level WR, do folks think that we would/should still draft Hunter?

I don’t think they should sign Higgins. That’s giving a 2 #1 money. He’s never had more than 74 receptions in a season, and he’s on the decline.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Yiu mean that you would TRY to get a 2026 1st for moving down to 7 or 8, and EXPECT one of the OT's is available, hopefully not the player who will likely be a guard.
=====
Yes, I would jump to move down to 7 or 8 if I could get a 2026 1st in return.

No, I wouldn’t move off it for less than a 1st in next years draft. People here are so desperate they want to pay #2 WR’s #1 money, and make ****ty deals with the draft picks. That’s not how you build a great team, that’s how you satisfy fan desperation and build a mediocre team.

 

[mgteich]

No, I wouldn’t move off it for less than a 1st in next years draft. People here are so desperate they want to pay #2 WR’s #1 money, and make ****ty deals with the draft picks. That’s not how you build a great team, that’s how you satisfy fan desperation and build a mediocre team.

So, we pick at 3 and the QB's are gone.

Presume that have signed Higgins and perhaps also a Bourne-level free agent WR.

Is it your position that you would draft Hunter?

 

[Headcase]

So, we pick at 3 and the QB's are gone.

Presume that have signed Higgins and perhaps also a Bourne-level free agent WR.

Is it your position that you would draft Hunter?

Why would you want to sign a Bourne level free agent? Where is the "we have one of those at home" meme when you need it. I'm also not big on Higgins, but he is better than anyone we have, so whatever.

But the question was would I take Hunter, if he is the BPA when we draft, take him.....most places have him as the #1 player in the draft, just take him we need talent.

 

[mgteich]

Why would you want to sign a Bourne level free agent? Where is the "we have one of those at home" meme when you need it. I'm also not big on Higgins, but he is better than anyone we have, so whatever.

But the question was would I take Hunter, if he is the BPA when we draft, take him.....most places have him as the #1 player in the draft, just take him we need talent.

I thought that most of us agreed that we had slot receiver covered well and the only non-slot receiver we have is Boutte. So, yes I would consider signing a free agent to be our #2 receiver behind our $25M AAV WR.

If we take Hunter after signing a top free safety, our secondary would be set with Gonzo and Hunter. With a $25M WR on board, Hunter would provide us much more value at CB.