Travis Hunter’s legend continues to grow

In an era of pitch counts and load management, there’s still one athlete you practically have to drag off the playing field.

Colorado’s Travis Hunter is a wide receiver and a cornerback, and thanks to five weeks of do-it-all performances, now a Heisman Trophy contender.

The Buffaloes are 4-1, and suddenly a contender in the Big 12, which has lived up to its preseason billing as the most balanced of college football’s Power Four conferences.

Hunter’s 46 catches, 561 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns each rank in the top 10 amongst FBS players, which in itself would have him in the conversation for college football’s most prestigious award.

But there's also the defensive impact to consider – two interceptions, three pass breakups and a forced fumble, the latter of which occurred on the goal line, preserving Colorado’s wild 38-31 overtime win over Baylor three weeks ago.

Simply put, Hunter has been one of the best players in college football at two different positions this year.

There’s a common comparison – one that’s being served up on a platter. When your head coach is one of the most uniquely talented athletes of all-time, it's a near-impossible parallel to avoid.

Deion Sanders is a Pro Football Hall of Famer – an eight-time All-Pro and the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1994 – and spent parts of nine seasons in Major League Baseball. And though Sanders didn’t moonlight as a wide receiver during his college career at Florida State, he did factor in on both ends in the pros, catching 60 passes over his 13-year career, including 36 with Dallas in 1996, a season where he also had a pair of interceptions and three fumble recoveries.

On Tuesday, Coach Prime was put on the spot at his weekly media conference – asked whether his two-way star is a better athlete than he’d been in his day.

“I’ve had my turn,” Sanders quickly said, eager to dismiss the glaring similarities, before shifting the focus solely to Hunter.

“Travis is everything, he’s it. It’s his turn now. I want him to have all the accolades, all the praise, all the love, all the attention, all the focus he deserves.”

It’s been nearly impossible to take your eyes off Hunter this year – not just because he’s one of college football’s most electrifying players, but because he’s always on the field. In five games, Hunter has played 620 total snaps – 300 on offence, 320 on defence. And Hunter isn’t taking breaks, either – he’s been on the field for 89.8 per cent of Colorado’s offensive plays, and 92.8 per cent on defence.

He’s not college football’s first two-way star, but Hunter he might be its best ever – and he already stands alone in terms of usage. 

The two players that might be the best comps have Hunter in some pretty impressive company.

Champ Bailey won the Bronko Nagurski Award as college football’s best defensive player as a cornerback at Georgia in 1998, and added 44 catches, 744 yards and five touchdowns as a receiver. He played 301 snaps on offence that year – one more than Hunter this season, but Bailey’s count was across 12 total games.

Charles Woodson won the Heisman a year earlier, a season in which he had seven interceptions for national champion Michigan. He had an impact as a deep threat on offence, with 11 catches, 232 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Both Woodson and Bailey were amongst the first players selected in their respective drafts – Woodson went fourth in 1998, and Bailey went seventh in 1999 – and were named to a combined 21 Pro Bowls, led the NFL in interceptions three times, and each won a Super Bowl. 

Oh, and like Hunter’s head coach at Colorado, Woodson and Bailey are both in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Hunter is a near-certain top-five pick in 2025, but figures to forge a different path than Woodson and Bailey. They both entered the NFL as cornerbacks, and combined to catch a total of six passes in their careers. Hunter is seen by most evaluators as a wide receiver at the next level, and the opinion is split on whether it's realistic for him to play regularly at both positions as a pro. Hunter’s 620 snaps this season at Colorado is an average of 124 per game – 50.6 more snaps than Jaylon Jones and Zaire Franklin of the Colts, who lead the NFL with an average of 73.4 per game.

In the meantime, Hunter’s workload in Colorado isn’t likely to be dialled back anytime soon. The Buffaloes are 2-0 in the Big 12 this season, and host 18th-ranked Kansas State on Saturday – a game with plenty of intrigue, in a conference where every game feels like a toss-up.

If Colorado keeps winning, Hunter’s legend – as well as his chances of winning the Heisman – will only continue to grow.