Part 10, CB: The generational talent of Colorado's Travis Hunter
Where will the Heisman winner play most? WR or CB? Scouts are split. But they also see a Deion Sanders-, Charles Woodson-, Champ Bailey-like talent in Travis Hunter. Full CB analysis inside.
This is the 41st year, and the fourth at Go Long, that Bob McGinn has written a position-by-position series previewing the NFL draft. Previously, it appeared in the Green Bay Press-Gazette (1985-’91), the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1992-2017), BobMcGinnFootball.com (2018-’19) and The Athletic (2020-’21). Until 2014, many personnel people were quoted by name. Reluctantly, the series adopted an all-anonymous format in 2015 at the request of most scouts.
Tenth of 12 parts: Cornerbacks.
Go Long is your forever home for unvarnished NFL coverage.
By Bob McGinn
With a decision that needed making, it was my call to group Travis Hunter with the cornerbacks rather than the wide receivers even though his playing time at Colorado the past two seasons was almost evenly split.
Of course, that doesn’t at all indicate whether Hunter will play offense, defense or both after he’s selected early in the NFL draft.
Six executives in personnel were split on Hunter’s best position. Three said wide receiver, three said cornerback. He is the top-graded player at each spot.
What they were in agreement on is that Hunter wouldn’t be able to log the 150 or so snaps from scrimmage that he did for the Buffaloes at an effective and injury-free level in the NFL.
“There’s absolutely no way he can do them both full-time,” said one executive. “They’ll just wear him out. Each team will look at him differently as far as what they want to do with him.”
As an all-time prospect with corner-wideout versatility, Hunter drew comparisons with three Hall of Fame enshrinees: Deion Sanders, his coach at Colorado in 2023-’24; Charles Woodson, a fellow Heisman Trophy winner, and Champ Bailey.
Sanders returned punts during his four seasons at Florida State but never played offense. He ran track for the Seminoles, qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100 and 200 meters, and played two seasons of collegiate baseball and one month of minor-league baseball as a center fielder.
At 5-11 ¾ and 182 pounds, Sanders ran the 40 at the combine in 4.29 seconds before being chosen No. 5 in 1989 behind Troy Aikman, Tony Mandarich, Barry Sanders and Derrick Thomas. His two-way work in the NFL included 60 receptions for 784 yards (13.1 average) and three touchdowns.
“I’ve never seen a better defensive back,” Dick Steinberg, New England’s director of player development with two decades of scouting experience, told me before that draft. “The most dominating college defensive back I ever saw before this guy was Willie Buchanon.”
Ron Wolf, then Al Davis’s top scout with the Los Angeles Raiders, called Sanders a “rare player.”
Woodson (6-0 7/8, 200, 4.43), who in 1998 became the first defensive player to win the Heisman, not only returned punts at Michigan but also found time in 1996-’97 to catch 21 passes for 370 (17.6) and three touchdowns. He was drafted No. 4 overall.
“If they were in the draft at the same time I would take this guy,” Charley Armey, the St. Louis Rams’ personnel director, said before the 1999 draft regarding his preference of Woodson over Sanders. “He will be a much better football player all-around, from A to Z.”
After Woodson destroyed Michigan State with two interceptions in 1988, former NFL center and ESPN analyst Bill Curry said, “The last cornerback I can remember making plays like that was Herb Adderley.”
Woodson’s brief exposure on offense in the NFL was limited to two receptions.
Before the 1999 draft, Bailey (5-11 ¾, 184, 4.35) received a final grade of 7.25 from Joel Buchsbaum, the pioneering independent scout for Pro Football Weekly. The year before, Woodson was handed an 8.01.
However, Bailey was so good moonlighting as a wide receiver at Georgia that Buchsbaum gave him a 6.05, which ranked fourth at the position behind Torry Holt, David Boston and Troy Edwards.
“He’s a quicker athlete and more instinctive than Woodson,” Armey said in the runup to the ’99 draft. “He doesn’t have Deion’s speed but he has awful good quickness.”
Bailey, who had a 42-inch vertical jump and a score of 25 on the Wonderlic test, caught 47 passes and rushed 16 times as a senior for the Bulldogs. He was the No. 7 selection.
“Can be a great cornerback or wide receiver,” Buchsbaum wrote before Bailey’s rookie season in Washington. “Might even do both at the same time.”
In his 15-year NFL career, Bailey caught just four passes.
In any event, Hunter is primed to become just the seventh top-5 cornerback since 2011.
“Champ Bailey was super athletic,” a longtime scout said. “Travis is probably a little twitchier in a short area. Charles Woodson was a much bigger man. Hunter’s a really good prospect but just because of his size he’s not quite graded as high as Charles Woodson.”
Links to date:
Part 2, TE: Is Tyler Warren the next Great American NFL Tight End?
Part 5, QB: Do NFL scouts view Cam Ward & Shedeur Sanders as franchise quarterbacks?
Part 6, RB: 'Rare human being and a rare player,' but when to draft Ashton Jeanty?
Part 9, LB: Jihaad Campbell, Alabama's latest ass-kicker, leads class full of playmakers
Learn more about the player and the person through a scouting lens below with Part 10 of McGinn’s series…
CORNERBACKS
1. TRAVIS HUNTER, Colorado (6-0 ½, 188, no 40, 1): Hasn’t run a 40 for scouts and probably never will. “Like with Deion (Sanders), I think you could spot him as a wide receiver but put him where he’s going to be an all-pro,” one scout said. “He’s explosive in that 7-, 15-, 20-yard range. You see him making a burst on the ball. He’s not gonna be 4.27, I can guarantee you that. He’s not Deion. But he can man cover. That’s what he can do. Don’t get me wrong, he could play well on offense if he wants. Great hands and ball skills, everything’s there. He won’t be known for his tackling ability. He might be No. 1 over (Abdul) Carter.” In 2024, he won the Biletnikoff Award as the top wide receiver and the Bednarik Award as the top defensive player. “He’s a better receiver than corner,” said a second scout.