Coming off of one of the greatest and most unique seasons we have ever seen from a college football player, Travis Hunter is clearly one of the best prospects in the NFL Draft.
Hunter is a two-way star and a player many scouts and GMs believe has franchise-altering potential at whichever position he plays.
Travis Hunter’s Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’1
- Weight: 185 pounds
- Position: WR/CB
- School: Colorado
- Current Year: Junior
Hunter’s Scouting Report
Travis Hunter was born in West Palm Beach, Florida but moved to Georgia in his teens. He played his high school football at Collins Hill in Suwanee, Georgia where he established himself as one of the best players in the country. Hunter was the top overall recruit in 2022 and was coveted by every top program.
In a stunning twist, Hunter decommitted from Florida State and opted to sign with Jackson State to play for then head coach Deion Sanders. In choosing Jackson State, Hunter was the highest-ranked recruit to ever sign with an HBCU school.
Hunter was a standout in his one and only season at Jackson State, playing both wide receiver and corner at a very high level. Hunter would then transfer from Jackson State following his freshman season to follow Coach Sanders to Colorado. In his first season with the Buffaloes, Hunter quickly established himself as a premier superstar at the collegiate level.
Hunter was one of the only players in the history of college football to start on both sides of the ball and play nearly every snap in each game. Hunter showcased both his dynamic ability as a receiver and lockdown ability at corner, for which he earned the Paul Hornung Award as college football’s most versatile player and was also named a consensus All-American.
Hunter entered the 2024 season as the biggest star in all of college football. His ability to not only play both ways but profile as a game-changing asset at each position made him truly one of the most unique players to ever play college football. Hunter excelled as a junior and would end up winning the 2024 Heisman Trophy, firmly establishing his legacy as not just a Colorado great, but one of the best players in college football history.
With the NFL Draft on tap there will be many questions about which position he will play at the next level, but one thing is clear: Hunter is one of the best prospects in this class.
Strengths
- A generational athlete with rare quickness, speed, and explosiveness.
- Rare football instincts and intelligence, displaying a knack for making plays on both sides of the ball.
- A hyper-competitive player who never backs down from a challenge and possesses franchise-cornerstone-type intangibles.
- Rare hands, ball skills, and body control to make highlight-reel catches and interceptions.
- A highly flexible and loose athlete with outstanding change-of-direction ability.
- An outstanding receiver after the catch with the speed to go the distance whenever he touches the ball.
- Sticky in man-to-man coverage with excellent foot quickness and mirror-and-match ability.
Weaknesses
- Size and strength are a big concern at both positions at the next level.
- Struggles fighting off blocks at corner and can have a hard time tackling stronger ball carriers.
- Lacks refinement as a receiver and mainly wins by just being the best athlete.
- Injuries have been a concern throughout college and comes into the league having already logged an abundance of college snaps.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Hunter enters the NFL Draft as one of the best prospects in the class, and he also profiles as one of the most intriguing players in recent memory since he legitimately qualifies as a top-five pick at two positions. He is truly a one-of-one type of NFL prospect that will spark a lot of debate for not just the media, but decision-makers at the top of the draft as well.
The question, of course, lies in what position Hunter will play at the next level and if it is a combination of the two. With that being said, before I dive deeper into his scouting report, I personally believe Hunter is better at wide receiver, and that is the position I’d draft him to play.
As a prospect, Hunter possesses below-average overall size and length but offers once-in-a-generation type of overall athleticism. He has rare quickness, speed, and burst that allow him to excel and win against most players he lines up against on either side of the ball. Furthermore, Hunter has rare instincts, ball skills and is hyper-competitive, all of which are evident in the way he plays the game.
When playing offense, Hunter is a big-play threat whenever he touches the football. He displays rare ability with the ball in his hands and has outstanding start/stop quickness and lateral agility to make defenders miss in the open field. Additionally, his speed and acceleration allow him to defeat angles and hit big plays. Hunter is not the most refined route runner and lacks the nuance in his game to set up defenders throughout the route — something that he must develop as he plays more athletic corners in the NFL.
With that being said, Hunter can create easy separation at the top of the route as he explodes out of cuts, often leaving his defender stuck in place. Hunter is a tremendous deep threat with the speed to stretch the field and the ball skills to track the football downfield.
He has the rare ability to play the football in the air and is a tremendous ball-winner, even though he has a smaller frame. Hunter has exceptional hands and can catch outside of his frame with ease. His lack of size limits his ability to break tackles as a ball carrier and also makes it difficult for him to sustain blocks down the field; however, the effort is there.
On the defensive side of the football, Hunter projects to be a lockdown cover man who can excel in both zone and man disciplines. In zone coverage, Hunter displays outstanding instincts and awareness. He can read the quarterback’s eyes while dropping back in his zone and has the quickness to put his foot in the ground to make a play on the football.
His foot quickness and hip fluidity allow him to be exceptional in mirroring route patterns in man coverage. He is able to stay in phase against most receivers and is never panicked when working down the field.
He is a playmaker at corner and has the ability to play the football and come up with interceptions. His size is a concern, however, as he lacks the mass and length to be left on an island against NFL-caliber receivers. Hunter struggles when asked to press receivers at the line of scrimmage and can easily get overpowered by bigger wideouts. He lacks the size to win at the catch point at times and will be a liability in run support as he struggles to get off blocks consistently.
To make Hunter’s evaluation a bit more murky, he’s also struggled to stay healthy throughout his collegiate career. His lack of size and the fact that he played more snaps than any player in college football makes Hunter an injury risk at the next level, and teams must come to the realization he cannot play both ways on a full-time basis in the NFL.
While many evaluators think Hunter’s ideal fit is as a full-time corner who plays a handful of offensive snaps, I personally think he has more upside as a full time receiver. I have less questions about his rare athleticism translating on the offensive side of the football, and I think he can be an instant game-changing player at receiver.
There is no wrong answer here, however, and whichever team drafts him will surely be getting a franchise-altering talent.
