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    • Travis Hunter tracker: Heisman frontrunner shines again as Colorado keeps rolling
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    Travis Hunter tracker: Heisman frontrunner shines again as Colorado keeps rolling

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    Travis Hunter was back at it Saturday, playing on both sides of the ball as Colorado (No. 17 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings) earned its fourth straight victory, 49-24 over Utah.

    Earlier this week, The Athletics‘s Dane Brugler ranked Hunter No. 1 on his updated 2025 NFL Draft big board — two spots higher than Hunter’s preseason slot. Brugler wrote: “Hunter is the best draft-eligible player in the country, and I don’t think that will change between now and April. Does he project best at wide receiver? Cornerback? Both? Those questions will be answered as he progresses through the process, but regardless, Hunter is the clear favorite to be drafted as the first non-quarterback.

    More on Hunter’s latest performance:

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    Stat line vs. Utah

    Five catches for 55 yards; one carry for 5 yards and a TD; three tackles, one INT, one pass breakup

    What other player in college football puts up a stat line? That?

    Hunter had an interception and a huge fourth-down reception in the first half alone, then put the icing on the cake with this incredible effort on a reverse in the closing moments:

    Hunter’s teammate, Colton Hood, earns an assist for Hunter’s interception in the first quarter. On the play, Utah QB Isaac Wilson threw a deep corner route to Munir McClain, and Hood recovered in time to pop the ball out of McClain’s hands – and into the arms of Hunter, who broke his cover to follow the play and to record his playing. third INT of the year. Hunter then returned to the field for a 21-yard return.

    The Heisman frontrunner is now just 89 yards shy of 1,000 receiving yards this season, with two regular-season games plus potential Big 12 title games and College Football Playoff appearances on the horizon.

    Hunter had a rare reporting error. In the third quarter, Utah wide receiver Dorian Singer blew past Hunter, who was playing man coverage without safety help over the top, and hauled in a beautiful 40-yard touchdown throw from Wilson. It was the first TD Hunter has allowed all season.

    Signature moment

    NFL evaluators love receivers who can complete contested catches and have aggressive ball skills in the air. It would be hard to showcase either skill much better than this:

    As if the catch itself wasn’t impressive enough, consider that it came on fourth-and-8 just before halftime in a one-possession game. Colorado scored a touchdown on the next snap when QB Shedeur Sanders hit WR Will Sheppard.

    With that 28 yards receiving, Hunter has catches of over 20 yards in eight of Colorado’s 10 games this season.

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    What it means

    The only question left for Hunter to answer is whether he wants to focus on one side of the ball at the next level. It will likely be as much about the needs of his new team — the fit, the scheme, everything else — as it will be about Hunter essentially declaring himself exclusively a corner or WR.

    He’s good enough to play in the league now, just like he was at the beginning of the year (and maybe even at the end of last season). Even with a few injuries and missed games, the durability Hunter needs to handle these high-speed loads time and time again – and lose none of his zip or explosion – is out of this world in and of itself.

    If you start breaking Hunter down at a more finite level, he has the best ball skills of any player in college football. He would have a fight on that front in the NFL as well. His ability to track, locate, adjust and catch a football in the air against other people is incredibly rare. We even saw an example on Saturday where he actually set up a defensive back to run into him and commit pass interference.

    His interception was a direct result of working back to the ball and, quite frankly, having an absurdly quick reaction time. Not only did he make it look easy to pick that deflection, but his transition from a squat to a full-tilt sprint the other way was seamless. He is one of the smoothest full-body skills athletes we have seen come out of the college ranks in a long time. Should Hunter test during the evaluation period leading up to the draft (and he has nothing to gain from it), the numbers will be staggering.

    What really makes him special, however, is his ability to control the pace of other people around him. There will never be a better athlete on the field than him – and he knows it. He plays with a special, special football confidence. — Nick Baumgardner

    (Top photo: Andrew Wever / Getty Images)

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