NFL Draft analyst states he has ‘never evaluated a player like Travis Hunter’

Travis Hunter is one of a kind: that should be pretty obvious at this point, right? ESPN NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller agrees and has taken it one step further.

He’s never seen a player like Hunter in all his years evaluating NFL prospects. The Heisman Trophy winner from Colorado had a historic campaign playing wide receiver and cornerback. From showcasing his skills on the field to being a model student off it, Hunter is as can’t-miss as you’ll find.

“I’ll say this right now: I’ve never evaluated a player like Travis Hunter,” Miller said on SportsCenter. “I would bet that most people haven’t. (He’s) someone who can go out and catch 92 passes, 14 touchdowns over 1,100 yards at receiver and be the best cornerback in the nation with four interceptions, when people were just completely avoiding his side of the field. 

“He’s a great athlete, he’s a 4.0 student, he has a love of the game that has him playing more snaps than anyone in college football history. I think Travis Hunter is a special player that has to be in consideration as the best pure football player in this draft.”

Best pure football player? Sure. But Hunter might have to stick to one position in the NFL. While he’ll get his opportunities to be on both sides of the ball, Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer recently reported that cornerback is more likely for Hunter in the pros.

“I actually spent the morning reaching out to 13 different GMs and head coaches,” Glazer said on FOX NFL Sunday. “I asked exactly that question, and it was overwhelming: cornerback. Now look, the one GM who said ‘I would put him at wide receiver,’ the reason why? Elite ball skills. Everybody else said corner. Why? Elite ball skills. 

“But he said, it’s just so hard to find a shutdown corner like that. However, they all said, even though we start him at cornerback, we would definitely find packages in place for him on the offensive side of the ball, just a different type of cat.”

Charles Woodson, who also won a Heisman and was known for his two-way prowess, sided with Hunter on defense. Of course, Hunter played wide receiver at a higher level than Woodson, but the latter is a Hall of Famer and might have some insight.

“Top five pick, for sure. But just what Jay Glazer just said, really took the words out of my mouth. I’d play him on defense, but too talented of a player,” Woodson said. “I mean, that’s what Deion was doing with him by playing him so many plays on offense and defense, he knew he couldn’t leave that guy on the sideline. So on offense, there’s going to be some packages that I’m going to have for him. Great ball skills. We saw him catching balls in the end zone with guys draped all over him. You can’t leave a guy like that on the sideline. So I would have something for him on offense, but defensive player primarily.”