Who brings more value to his team, Travis Hunter or Shohei Ohtani? Hunter has a clear opinion.

Yesterday at the NFL combine, Hunter made it clear that no matter where he goes in the NFL (he’ll likely be a top-5 pick) that he wants to be a two-way player like he was for the Colorado Buffaloes. He’s phenomenal at both, so good, in fact, that he was able to use his versatility as the driving force behind his Heisman-winning campaign last season.

Not many players at the professional level play two different positions in a sport that requires distinct offensive and defensive formations. Hunter is certainly amazing and unique at the level he performs, but he might have too high of an opinion of his skills set. 

During the same interview that he said he wants to play offense and defense, he told Alex Butler of UPI that he brings more to the table for a team than Ohtani does.

I hate to burst Hunter’s bubble, but he’s wrong, and I’m going to make a case for Ohtani without tearing down Hunter.

Like I said, the future NFL star had an insane senior year in college – 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns (plus a rushing score). On defense, he recorded four interceptions, 32 tackles, and broke up 11 passes. Normally, we would look at those stats and think they were accumulated by two different players. This was all Hunter’s work – and Hunter’s alone.

He also averaged playing 115 snaps per game last season – I got tired just thinking about that. There’s a reason that he’s being labeled as a unicorn. However, he’s not the only one who can put up insane numbers.

Last season, Ohtani hit 50 home runs while stealing 50 bases (the first player to do that) while hitting .310 and driving in 130 runs. Of course, he won’t put up these numbers every year, but he’s been amazing during his other years in the MLB too. On the mound, he’s gotten at least 9 wins as a starting pitcher in the three full years he has pitched. 

So both of these guys can put up eye-popping stats. But Ohtani separates himself in one distinct way.

When Ohtani plays in games, he is pitching and hitting, he is directly responsible for his performance on every play and maxing himself out whenever he is in. If he’s pitching, he directly impacts the game with every pitch, and the same goes for when he’s hitting. Baseball as a sport puts the most pressure on individuals who pitch and hit, because they rely on no one else to do their job.

Hunter, on the other hand, can somewhat hide on certain plays. For example, he doesn’t get the ball every time on offense (and therefore saves his body a bit), and the same goes for defense. Not every quarterback is dumb enough to throw his way, so, often, his job covering guys is easier. Football is a team sport more so than most, and he has more people who can make up for his mistakes.

Lastly, Ohtani has to do one of the hardest things in sports when he plays: hit a baseball – and he’s darn good at it too.

Again, Hunter is special at what he does and it will be fun watching him in the NFL. But despite all his talents, Ohtani still contributes more to the Los Angeles Dodgers than Hunter will with his next team.