Here’s a question for Broncos fans as they await the 2025 season.
The next time Denver plays Jacksonville, will you root for Travis Hunter to catch a bunch of passes, score, make a few tackles and maybe even intercept a pass—as long as his Jaguars lose to your Broncos?
Or will you hope he doesn’t do anything to distinguish himself and make it harder for the Orange and Blue to win?
With release of this year’s National Football League schedule, we now know that you’ll have almost the whole season to make up your mind.
That’s because Hunter and the Jaguars don’t come to Denver until Dec. 21.
By then, the Broncos will have played 14 games and will know what’s at stake regarding the AFC West standings and a possible playoff berth—with games remaining against the Chief in Kansas City Christmas Night and the Chargers at home Jan. 3.
Also, Londoners will have gotten an earlier look at both Denver and Hunter—the Broncos (vs. the Jets) on Oct. 12 and Jacksonville (vs. the Rams) the following week.
When the reigning Heisman Trophy winner does return to Colorado as an opponent, we can be reasonably certain of two storylines:
One—barring injury, of course—he’ll see action on both sides of the ball, as he did every game for the CU Buffaloes last year.
Two, his college coach and father figure—Coach Prime . . .Neon Deion—will be visibly present and part of local, and probably national, coverage of Hunter’s appearance before the once-home folks.
In the immediate aftermath of the 2025 NFL Draft, Jacksonville’s stunning trade and resulting selection of Travis with the No. 2 pick was overshadowed by the unprecedented slide of his college compadre Shedeur Sanders from high first-round choice to fifth-round bargain.
Overshadowed everywhere but in Jacksonville, that is.
The Jaguars relinquished three of their picks in this draft (Nos. 5, 36 and 126) plus next year’s No. 1, for the opportunity to choose Hunter right behind top pick Cam Ward. (The Broncos open the ’25 season against Ward and the Titans.)
As Draft Day deals go, this has been called unprecedented and compared to the Broncos’ ill-fated acquisition of Russell Wilson.
But Jacksonville general manager James Gladstone, who spent nine years in the Rams scouting department, believes he landed a transformative talent by going bold with the first draft choice of his tenure as Jags GM.
“We engaged in those (trade) conversations with the idea that, ‘Hey, this is more than likely going to be a stretch,’” he has said. “’It’s probably not going to be something that we’ll be able to bring to life.’”
Then it happened.
“He’s somebody who is deserving of a first-round draft pick as a wide receiver, and he is worth of a first-round draft pick as a corner,” he has said.
“There are players who have the capacity to alter a game. There are players who have the capacity to alter the trajectory of a team.
“There are very few players who have the capacity to alter the trajectory of the sport itself. Travis, while he has a lot to still learn, in our eyes, has the potential to do just that.”
At the outset of the season, Hunter will likely play a lot of receiver, and be eased into a role on defense.
But by the time Jacksonville plays the Broncos, he could be a common sight in the Jaguars’ secondary, too.
Paired with Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville’s first-round choice last April, Hunter is expected to give quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the team’s top pick in 2021, a second playmaker with elite ball skills. On defense, he’ll likely line up opposite Tyson Campbell.
The unanswered question is what kind of reception he’ll receive from those who previously cheered him.
As for Coach Prime, he should be available when his protégé returns to Colorado.
The Hunter-less Buffaloes conclude their regular season on November 29 at Kansas State.
If they astound everyone and qualify for the 12-team College Football Playoff, their loquacious coach will be quite busy. First-round games will be played December 19-20.
If they just surprise us, the Buffs could be playing in, or preparing for, one of the dozens of bowl games that will take place during December.
In either event, Coach Prime will find a way.
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Denny Dressman’s 17th book, a collaboration with Kansas City artist Anthony High titled Black Baseball’s Heyday – Capturing An Era in Art and Words, will be published this summer. You can write to Denny at dennydressman@comcast.net.