WHERE . . .
That one word, in multiple sentences, dominates the debate among Buffs and Broncos fans regarding what the future holds for CU wunderkind Travis Hunter, as next week’s National Football League draft draws nearer.
WHERE will he go in the draft?
WHERE will he begin his pro career?
WHERE will his new team play him?
Clearly one of the top prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner is easily the most intriguing, maybe of all time.
As the only player ever to receive both the Bednarik Award, as college football’s top defensive player, and the Biletnikoff Award, as its best offensive player—in the same season—Hunter could star on either side of the ball in the NFL.
Or, maybe both.
He possesses an overall skillset unmatched by any other player among the 267 who ultimately will be chosen by the league’s 32 teams next Thursday through Saturday.
But the NFL Draft—first and foremost—is about teams at the front of the pecking order filling their most glaring needs.
Fortifying already strong positions with the proverbial “best player available” usually falls to the previous season’s more successful—and thus, later-picking clubs—who feel that what’s left at the position they’d most like to improve isn’t worth a first-round choice.
Tennessee, Cleveland, the New York Giants, and New England have the first four picks in Green Bay, site of this year’s draft.
Wide receiver is listed among the needs for three of them, while help in the defensive secondary is on the shopping list for the fourth, the Giants.
So, Travis probably will be gone before the fifth pick is made.
But which of those four will snap him up?
If he’s not the first player chosen, that honor most likely will go to either Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter or Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward.
The Titans’ top needs are listed as quarterback, wide receiver and edge rusher. That means they could go for Ward, Hunter or Carter.
For my money, I’d take Hunter or Carter ahead of Ward, who seems to be the top-rated QB for lack of a superior alternative (including Shedeur Sanders, who strangely is not considered nearly Ward’s equal).
Among the Titans’ lower priorities is help in the defensive secondary. They could view Travis as a two-fer.
The last true two-way player in the NFL is the namesake of the top defender award won by Travis Hunter. The first player taken in the 1949 NFL Draft, Chuck Bednarik played both center and linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles for most of his 14 seasons.
At age 35 Bednarik played 58 of the 60 minutes in the 1960 NFL Championship Game. Philly beat Green Bay 17-13, and Bednarik made the game’s final tackle, stopping Jim Taylor at the eight-yard line and staying on top of him as the final seconds ticked away.
“You can get up now, Jim. The game’s over,” Bednarik is said to have told Taylor when time expired.
As recently as CU’s Pro Day this month, Hunter stated emphatically that he wants to play both ways in the pros—be a modern-day Bednarik, in effect.
And his coach, Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders, who also played some wide receiver (though only part-time), has said he thinks Hunter’s up to the rigors of two-way play in today’s NFL.
But can he be?
According to the University of Colorado’s official team stats, Travis Hunter played 1,460 of CU’s 1,725 snaps from scrimmage in his senior season. He also was on the field for 21 plays by special teams.
During that season, he caught 96 passes for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns as a wide receiver, while also making 25 unassisted tackles and participating in 11 others (almost three stops per game) and intercepting four passes and breaking up 11 others as a cornerback.
So, Sanders asks, “Why not?”
But pro football has evolved since Bednarik starred—even since Sanders last suited up more than 20 years ago. Players are bigger and stronger, and the game is more punishing than ever.
Whether or not Hunter plays both sides of the ball may come down to the team that picks him deciding if it’s willing to double the risk of losing to injury a player who can be a difference-maker wherever he’s positioned.
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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 in late June. You can write to Denny at dennydressman@comcast.net.