It’s rare in college football to see players really break out as two-way players. Travis Hunter was the rare exception to excel in both spots, hence winning him the Heisman Trophy in 2024.
It’s a challenging position to fill; you need to be talented enough on offense and defense while also maintaining good enough cardio to play a majority of the downs on offense and defense.
Travis Hunter’s 2024 season was an oddity, and the fact that he was so talented at both positions allowed him to win the Heisman.
Hunter was elite on defense in 2024, recording four interceptions, 11 pass deflections and 36 total tackles. On the offensive side of the ball, Hunter nabbed 1,258 yards in the air and 15 touchdowns.
Hunter was the rare exception to be great; teams have tried to replicate a two-way player as great as him as recently as 2025.
In 2025, Minnesota Golden Gophers safety Koi Perich played on offense for a portion of their plays. Perich, a great safety, wasn’t able to really stand out on offense, with just three receptions in the first three games; the experiment was over.
The Gophers did try again during the Rate Bowl versus New Mexico, finding Perich on four passes for a total of 34 yards. With Perich on the move across the conference to the Oregon Ducks, the chances of him seeing more offensive snaps are slim.
The only other significant two-way player in 2025 was Smith Snowden for the Utah Utes. As a cornerback, Smith had 13 receptions in the first four games of the season.
In the Utes’ season opener, Snowden grabbed 51 of his season’s 57 reception yards. As a running back, Snowden also put in a rushing touchdown, making this the most significant offensive performance of the season from a defensive player.
Snowden’s form fell off on offense the very next game, with three receptions for a loss of two receiving yards.
As non-conference play ended and conference play started, Snowden’s offensive drives were phased out, and by week five, he was no longer on the offense.
Two-way players don’t only come in the form of defensive players playing at receiver, and that’s where Joel Lanning comes in.
From 2013 to 2017, Lanning played quarterback at Iowa State, throwing for 1,200 yards in 2015 and 2016.
Lanning’s ability wasn’t enough for Matt Campbell and Iowa State’s coaching staff, meaning he lost the job come the end of the 2016 season.
Instead of Lanning stepping away from the program in 2017, he made a big decision: he was switching to linebacker.
On the football field, the quarterback and the linebacker have almost nothing in common, but there is one thing that you need to excel at in both positions: a high football IQ.
That IQ was something Lanning had, which meant the change went surprisingly well. In Lanning’s very first game versus Northern Iowa, he had seven combined tackles, helping Iowa State win 42-24.
In his next two games versus Iowa and Akron, Lanning had a combined 19 tackles, as well as his only college interception versus the Zips.
In Iowa State’s first conference game of the season, Lanning put together his best defensive performance of the season.
In a 17-7 loss against Texas, Lanning had a combined 20 tackles, eight of which were solo tackles. Even though Texas won, the Cyclones defense held them to 17 points, 12.5 points below the Longhorns’ season average at 29.5.
In the next game versus Oklahoma, Lanning returned to the offense, but not at quarterback.
See, Lanning was one of the best mobile quarterbacks in the Big 12 throughout his time running the offense. His running ability was one of the reasons he was at quarterback for so long.
In 2016, he rushed for 518 yards, just under half of his total passing yards, as well as rushing for 11 touchdowns, three more than the nine passing touchdowns that he had in 2016.
So against the Sooners, Lanning was in as a running back, and with nine attempts on the ground, Lanning put together 35 yards. He also had three pass attempts, completing on two of them for 25 yards total.
Alongside Lanning was current NFL star David Montgomery. During the game, he rushed for 55 yards of his own, but Lanning’s presence helped open up Montgomery in the pass game, ending with 89 yards receiving.
Lanning remained on the defensive front as well, totalling for eight tackles. His all-around performance helped Iowa State win 38-31, their first conference win of 2017.
Lanning remained on offense and defense during 2017, helping Iowa State end the regular season 7-5, and getting their eighth win in the Liberty Bowl versus Memphis in a 21-20 game.
During 2017, Lanning combined for 114 tackles, 51 solo tackles, and just a single interception. On the offensive side of the ball, he rushed for 135 yards and got the ball in the endzone twice, with one of those touchdowns helping Iowa State win the Liberty Bowl.
In a game vs. Oklahoma State, Lanning completed a 22-yard touchdown pass to Allen Lazard, joining a very unique club of players who have thrown a touchdown, rushed for a touchdown and had an interception in one season.
Lanning’s 2017 season was legendary, going down as one of the best individual seasons in Iowa State football history.
The Associated Press and ESPN both named Lanning first-team all-Big 12. Lanning also ended 2017 as a runner-up for both the Lombardi award for the best linebacker or defensive lineman in college football and the Paul Hornung award for the most versatile player in college football.
Lanning put his name into the 2018 NFL draft, but he went undrafted, signing with the Dallas Cowboys for preseason play before being released Sept. 1, 2018.
In 2019, Lanning signed with the San Antonio Commanders of the Alliance of American Football, but after the league folded in April of that year, the former Cyclone called it quits and retired from his football career.
In 2019 and 2020, Lanning joined the Cyclone coaching staff as an assistant, but today the legendary linebacker is working as an agent, helping young athletes around the country.
