The Colorado football program notched a blowout win over UCF on Saturday to improve to 4-1 on the season, and as is typically the case following any Buffaloes game, the story coming out of the contest was Colorado's All-American two-way star Travis Hunter, who once again proved why he's arguably the best player in the sport.
Travis Hunter played 128 snaps in 87 degree Orlando, Florida heat against the Knights, just a shade below his season average of 130. In the win, Hunter recorded 9 receptions for 89 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, he chipped in with a pair of tackles, a pass defended and an interception of UCF's 6th-year senior quarterback KJ Jefferson.
A performance like this one would've been hard to conceive of before Travis Hunter arrived at Jackson State two years ago, but since then, it's just become the norm for the dynamic junior.
This raises the question, how does Travis Hunter consistently perform at such a high level on both sides of the ball? His coach, Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, detailed what a normal week of prep for Hunter looks like during an appearance on Nightcap with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson.
“You don’t get tired doing what you’re gifted and blessed to do man. The kid don’t tire,” Coach Prime said. “Now we give him Sunday’s off, Monday’s, and Tuesday’s off, so he starts working on Wednesdays so he can get his rest. If anybody’s got a problem with it, do what he does and I’ll give you the days off too.”
Nobody else is doing what Travis Hunter is doing, and in fairness to the West Palm Beach native, even Charles Woodson, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1997 as a cornerback/wide receiver, didn't have the kind of two-way impact Hunter does. Sure, Woodson may have been a more polished product as a corner, but Hunter has proven to be a far more impactful receiver than Woodson, who had just 11 catches for 231 yards and 2 touchdowns during his '97 Heisman campaign.
16 of the last 20 Heisman Trophy winners have been a quarterback, but with +600 odds after Week 5, Hunter trails only Jalen Milroe (+250) and Cam Ward (+500) in FanDuel Sportsbooks' Heisman Trophy odds. Hunter even flashed the Heisman Trophy pose in the win over UCF.
How high can Travis Hunter rise ahead of 2025 NFL Draft?
If whichever team that ends up with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft isn't in desperate need of a quarterback, then it's possible that Travis Hunter could end up being selected 1st overall. And why shouldn't he be? Even if you project Hunter to be a B+ at both wide receiver and cornerback at the next level, getting a player who can provide you with that sort of impact on both sides of the ball feels like a no-brainer.
That's the way Coach Prime sees it too.
“Every week we’ve got a ton of scouts coming to practice and they ask me that question, what do you think he is? I say I’ll tell you what, if you put him on defense and don’t let him play offense in the pros you’re going to look crazy because you’re not moving the ball down the field and you’re best receiver is over there on the defensive side of the ball. The fans are going to start booing and they’re going to say put Travis in.
“Now if you put it vice versa and okay now he’s on offense and he’s lighting it up and your cornerback is getting killed but you got him over there sitting on the bench, and your best corner is sitting over there waiting for the offense to get a turn and you’re getting murdered out there, you’re going to look like a fool as a head coach. So you’ve got to allow him to be who he is.”
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