Lots of great nuggets from the NFL Scouting Combine came down on Friday morning from the crew at MassLive, who put together an awesome joint column with news and notes on the Patriots’ approach in free agency, team-related news outside of roster building, as well as their preferences, at the moment, for April’s NFL Draft.
But what stood out to me most was their section on Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter.
Here’s what they had to say about the dual-threat athlete out of Colorado:
“Defensively, the Patriots believe the best cornerback in the draft is — Travis Hunter. Offensively, the Patriots believe the best wideout in the draft is — Travis Hunter. Whether the two-way Heisman winner is still on the board at No. 4 is a different question.”
If he is, indeed, on the board, it makes this whole conversation a lot more interesting. But conventional wisdom tells us that won’t be the case.
While there’s still a long way to go before day one of the draft gets underway on April 24, Hunter has long-been projected to be a top three pick among this year’s draft class. Unless trades occur, that still feels like an almost certainty for a player with his talent level on both sides of the ball.
But if things do get funky at the top of the draft, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that head coach Mike Vrabel and executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf could have a tough decision to make.
With The Athletic reporting on Thursday that the Patriots are focused on rebuilding in the trenches this offseason, it would be a surprise to see them take a player that doesn’t help bolster that effort at the top of the first round. But if the organization feels like Hunter is the best player at two different premium positions, would it be organizational negligence to pass on him?
At the very least, we know the organization has met with Hunter face-to-face, as Vrabel shared a funny story between him and the 21-year-old while joining the NFL Network’s coverage of the combine on Thursday night.
Draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah asked, “Have you been insulted at all? Because I feel like with Travis Hunter, everybody’s talked about Champ Bailey and Charles Woodson, and I feel like you’ve not gotten mentioned properly in this conversation.”
Jeremiah, of course, is referencing Vrabel’s occasional snaps at tight end on goal line situations, leading to receiving touchdowns in two different Super Bowl wins for the Patriots.
Vrabel immediately jumped in, saying, “I’m sure Travis doesn’t even know, but we were kind of jawing back-and-forth as he left last night, and I said, ‘You’re not the only one to played two ways film. Like, there were some other guys that did this, too.’ And he kind of looked at me and we laughed.”
Is this the beginning of Vrabel building a rapport with a player he wants to take No. 4 overall, or is this just Vrabel being Vrabel?
Is all their talk about building up the trenches just a red herring being floated to the media, or is the possibility of picking Hunter just so enticing that the team would be open to pivoting on the fly?
Vrabel made sure to give himself that option when speaking to the media in Indianapolis on Tuesday.
“I think having different plans, and having an option-A and option-B - I mean, things are gonna change,” Vrabel said at the podium. “Everybody’s looking at the same players, so we have to be ready to pivot and adjust and have a vision for each player, I would say, at each level.”
Could this throwaway line from a press conference in late February have been the first sign that the team is mentally preparing for a possible pick of Hunter at No. 4?
Stay locked in to WEEI and WEEI.com for all the latest on the Patriots’ offseason.