If anyone can relate to somebody doing things on a football field that nobody else on Earth can, it’s Tyreek Hill. That’s why the Miami Dolphins superstar’s ringing endorsement of Colorado receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter is particularly noteworthy.
While Shilo Sanders played ignorant, dirty football and contributed to the Buffaloes’ ongoing defensive woes, his brother Shedeur connected with Hunter on three TD passes, and Hunter himself did enough defensively to help his team avoid an embarrassing loss at home in the season opener.
It took 435 passing yards from Shedeur and seven grabs for 132 for Hunter to eke out a 31-26 win over North Dakota State. Doesn’t bode well for Colorado’s 2024 outlook, but that has nothing to do with Hunter’s draft stock. Tyreek wasn’t the only NFL notable to publicly praise football’s version of Shohei Ohtani (gross, just made a baseball analogy).
Travis hunter has to be the best in shape player of all time … he don’t miss a play on offense or defense
— LeSean Shady Mccoy (@CutonDime25) August 30, 2024
Draft Travis Hunter Top 5, & let him play whatever position he wants!! If there’s a better player in college ball he’s gonna have to show me!
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) August 30, 2024
The biggest highlight of the night came on Hunter’s last TD grab, which can be seen in the tweet below where I also provide my overarching thoughts on Colorado’s program.
The Colorado Buffaloes football program may ultimately be a bunch of hot air and paper tiger vibes, but don't get it twisted: Shedeur is elite, and Travis Hunter is Himothy pic.twitter.com/bW7HnAECr6
— Matt Fitzgerald (@MattFitz_gerald) August 30, 2024
UNBELIEVABLE ANGLE of Travis Hunter’s TD https://t.co/JSbdcuOYD1 pic.twitter.com/23mEQZJZCU
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) August 30, 2024
It’s possible to acknowledge how generally toxic the Buffaloes are with Deion Sanders at the helm, and recognize that Shedeur and Hunter are undeniable first-round NFL Draft picks. Now, the question I keep circling back to is, will Shedeur’s attitude translate to an NFL locker room? I doubt it. High likelihood of alienation.
Hunter won’t shoulder the responsibilities of a franchise quarterback, so I’m far less concerned about how he’ll fare at the pro level. But for now, we’ll see him continue to dominate and likely be the best player on whatever field he’s on.
Travis Hunter has never played a game where he wasn’t the best athlete on the field. The scary part is I’m not sure he will at the next level either. pic.twitter.com/prezWvaByO
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) August 30, 2024
Travis Hunter at the top of the screen, closing & finishing for the stop. Pretty cool when your top WR also plays CB & can crack replace like this
— Anthony Cover 1 (@Pro__Ant) August 30, 2024
The young man is a freaking machine. The paragon of appointment sports television.
Travis Hunter has played nearly 80 snaps on offense and defense.
He has 5 catches, 116 receiving yards, and 2 TD’s.
There are still 5 minutes left in the third quarter and the broadcast just said he typically burns 4,500 calories per game.
Insane athlete. pic.twitter.com/u0OrdHycXt
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) August 30, 2024
Some incredible tidbits on Travis Hunter in this ESPN article 👀https://t.co/unqyk54VKy pic.twitter.com/lXkiVnOYTB
— RK (@RyanKoenigsberg) August 28, 2024
Deion has said that he’ll control where Shedeur and Hunter are drafted, likening it to how Eli Manning spurned the Chargers in favor of playing for the New York Giants. Again, that’s a lot more problematic for a quarterback to navigate.
Wherever Hunter goes, his game will travel, and the only issue NFL teams will likely have with him is which position to play him at the majority of the time. Like, he could be a first-round prospect as a wide receiver or cornerback. That caliber of two-way talent is literally too special to fail in the NFL. If you take the way Hunter trains at face value — in the Colorado altitude, no less! — he should have enough of a work ethic to get it done against the best of the best.
Kind of a bummer that Hunter is trapped on such a bad team for the time being — and that he’ll wind up being drafted to a bad team unless some fringe contender offers a king’s ransom to move up and get him. Or Deion forces Hunter to a better situation.
Regardless of how all that plays out, and no matter how much I want to fast forward, punt on Colorado’s season, or just put Hunter on ice until he’s NFL Draft-eligible, Thursday’s opener was a mere tease of the season-long highlight reel Hunter is about to put together. Can’t wait to watch the rest of it. Will play you out with another tweet that made me chuckle and reflects the state of Buffaloes football.
Their defense is so ass it’s a borderline war crime lol
— Los (@HushBulla) August 30, 2024
