Colorado star Travis Hunter said during a Zoom call Thursday that he is “definitely” entering the 2025 NFL Draft after his junior season wraps up. Hunter, who starts at both wide receiver and cornerback for the No. 16 Buffaloes, also noted that he plans on playing both positions at the professional level.
“I’m super confident, and I believe that I can do it at the next level, and I’m not gonna let anyone tell me that I can’t do something that I’ve already done,” Hunter said. “They said I couldn’t do it in college, I ended up doing it in college. So a lot of people tell me I can’t do it in the NFL, but I’m gonna still do it in the NFL. A lot of people just let other people get in their ear, so they don’t let them do it. And some people just don’t have the body type to be able to go both ways full time.”
The decision isn’t surprising, though this is the first time that Hunter has publicly commented on his future plans. All four of CBS Sports’ draft experts project Hunter going off the board with the No. 1 overall pick in their most recent NFL mock drafts.
Hunter has worked his way into the forefront of the Heisman Trophy conversation while helping lead Colorado to an 8-2 record and a spot near the top of the Big 12 conference standings as the regular season nears its finish. As a wide receiver, he has 74 catches for 911 yards and nine touchdowns, which is tied to lead the Big 12.
He also has 23 total tackles (one for a loss), one forced fumble, three interceptions and eight pass breakups as a cornerback. Playing both ways in the NFL is rare — especially since it means that Hunter averages well over 100 snaps per game — but Hunter is no stranger to making history.
Hunter began his journey under coach Deion Sanders in 2022 when he signed with Jacksonville State as the No. 1 overall player in his recruiting class. He was the first five-star prospect to ever sign with an FCS program. Hunter followed Sanders to Colorado a year later and won the 2023 Paul Hornung Award as the nation’s most versatile player.
Hunter in rarified air
It’s been a long time since college football has seen someone like Hunter. Two-way players aren’t necessarily a rarity, but few play at a comparably high level on a consistent basis with a heavy workload.
This is Hunter’s second straight season with at least five touchdown catches and three interceptions. He’s just the third player since 1978 to achieve that feat, and the first since Georgia’s Champ Bailey in 1998. In Colorado’s Week 12 win against Utah, Hunter had 55 yards receiving, a rushing touchdown and an interception. That made him the first player in either the FBS or NFL with at least one touchdown rushing, 50-plus yards receiving and one interception since Bailey — again — in 2000 with the Washington Redskins.
Hunter’s target splits are also quite impressive:
- On offense: 92 targets, 80.4% completion percentage when targeted, 9.9 yards per target, nine touchdowns and one interception
- On defense: 37 targets, 56.8% completion percentage when targeted, 5.5 yards per target, one touchdown and three interceptions
“I don’t like to say which one I’m better at because I don’t think I’m better at either,” Hunter said. “I think I’m just equal.”
All of that has Hunter as the current frontrunner in a deep Heisman Trophy place. He’d be just the second defensive player to ever win the Heisman, following in the footsteps of former Michigan defensive back Charles Woodson, who beat Peyton Manning for the award in 1997.