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Adam Ritenberg, senior writer at ESPN
Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter, projected as a top pick in the 2025 NFL draft, says he will turn pro after the Buffaloes’ season.
Hunter, the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, was widely expected to forego his senior season and enter the NFL in 2025. ESPN’s Mel Kiper lists Hunter, who plays both cornerback and wide receiver for Colorado, as the No. 1 prospect. one for the Heisman Trophy. 2025 draft.
“That’s definitely for sure,” Hunter said in a call with reporters Thursday.
Hunter would like to play both positions at the next level. He has increased his production as a wide receiver, setting career highs in receptions (74), receiving yards (911), and receiving touchdowns (9), while recording three interceptions at cornerback and regularly logging over 120 total snaps per game.
“It’s never been done,” Hunter said of playing two positions full-time in the modern NFL. “I understand that it will be a high risk, [teams] I don’t want their first pick to drop too soon and I know they’ll want it to be in a couple of packs. But I think I can do it. Nobody has stopped me from doing it until now.
“I like it when people tell me I can’t do it.”
Hunter and Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders are leading Heisman candidates and projected top picks in the 2025 draft. Sanders, son of Colorado football Hall of Fame coach Deion Sanders professional, said Hunter should win the Heisman if it was a choice between two close friends.
Colorado’s only Heisman Trophy came in 1994, when running back Rashaan Salaam won the award.
“If it’s between me and him, I’d like him to get it,” Shedeur Sanders said. “He does a lot of amazing things and things that haven’t been done before. I’m not a selfish guy. I know what he’s capable of, so I’d rather he win.”
Hunter said he would be thrilled if Sanders won the Heisman and hopes Sanders will at least be invited to New York as a finalist for college football’s top individual honor.
“Even if you didn’t invite, you’re invited,” Hunter said.
Kiper projects Sanders as the seventh overall prospect and top quarterback for the 2025 draft. Sanders has completed a career-best 72.9% of his passes this fall for 3,222 yards and 27 touchdowns with seven interceptions. . Colorado, which went 4-8 in Deion Sanders’ first season as coach, can reach the Big 12 championship game with wins Saturday at Kansas and next week against Oklahoma State.
“I feel like I was the best quarterback in the last draft, too,” Shedeur Sanders said, referring to April’s draft, where quarterbacks took the top three picks and five of the top 10. “Since I was eligible for the draft, I knew I’m the best quarterback. It’s not up to me to prove myself by talking about why… The main thing now is that you see it or you don’t.”
ESPN BET opened its market for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft with Sanders (+200) and Hunter (+300) at the top of the odds board. Miami’s Cameron Ward is the next closest at +700, with four other quarterbacks (Garrett Nussmeier, Jalen Milroe, Jaxson Dart and Quinn Ewers) ranking fourth on the board at +2000. Hunter is the favorite to win this season’s Heisman Trophy at -400.
Sanders, who along with Hunter began his college career at FCS Jackson State while playing for Deion Sanders, added that his and Hunter’s draft profile increased once critics were able to “get over the hate for [Deion Sanders] and get over the hate for what he’s doing for college football.”
“We’re getting to a bigger stage and where, I guess, people respect football a little more and are doing the same thing,” Shedeur Sanders said. “So now we’re like, ‘Oh, these guys were actually players,’ but we’ve been doing everything since day one.”
