The 2025 NFL Draft is exactly one week away, and soon, fans will know which top talents will be arriving to help better their favorite teams. Colorado two-way phenom Travis Hunter will be one of the first players off the board on April 24, perhaps even the No. 1 overall selection.
To be fair, Miami quarterback Cam Ward has the best odds to be drafted by the Tennessee Titans (or whoever trades up to first overall) but after that the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner is fair game for anyone else.
Hunter spoke with Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde in a piece that was released on Thursday as part of the publication's draft preview, where he detailed his mindset towards the transition from college to the pros. He said he's not distracted by the hype or the haters.
"People are only talking about me because my name is hot, so they don't know where I came from, don't know where I grew up," Hunter said. "They don't understand my story. I just let people talk."
Travis Hunter's attitude sounds like that of a potential No. 1 overall pick
The wide receiver-cornerback dual threat sure sounds like the kind of player that would go No. 1 overall, despite the projections. His 2024 campaign earned him the honor of having his jersey retired by Colorado, and he's dead set on playing the same positions in the NFL.
"I’m not going to let anybody tell me that I can’t do something that I’ve already done," he said.
Some teams are eager to let him do just that. New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen expressed on Wednesday that "we would not be afraid to play him on both sides of the ball."
Hunter knows it wouldn't be an immediate translation. Just as he had to be immersed in his freshman season at Jackson State with head coach Deion Sanders, he's used to having to adjust (and be adjusted to) on a new team.
"I had to earn it by playing one side of the ball first, so that’s kind of what he made me do,” Hunter explained. “I had to dominate on one side of the ball to be able to get to the other side of the ball. Once [Sanders] saw that I could do it, he started gradually to put me out there [on offense]."
That kind of attitude should every team, especially the Giants sitting at pick No. 3, salivating for Hunter's talents and football IQ. Even if he isn't going to be the first team off the board, he could still very well wind up being the best player selected overall.