Colorado's Travis Hunter 'definitely' entering NFL draft, intent on playing both ways

Colorado cornerback-receiver Travis Hunter told USA Sports Thursday that he is “for sure” going to enter the NFL draft after this season, when he is expected to be a top pick.

Hunter is a junior who has one year of college football eligibility remaining after this year but was widely expected to enter the draft. He still hadn’t publicly declared his intentions until being asked about it by USA TODAY Sports on a Zoom call with reporters Thursday.

“Oh yeah,” Hunter said with a laugh. “That’s definitely for sure.”

Hunter is the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy Dec. 14 in New York and has helped lead his team to an 8-2 record in the second season of head coach Deion Sanders. He transferred to Colorado last year from Jackson State after Sanders took the job in Boulder in December 2022.

Hunter told reporters Thursday he wants to continue to play offense and defense in the NFL.

“They said I couldn’t do it in college,” Hunter said. “I ended up doing it in college. So a lot of people telling me I can’t do it in the NFL, but I’m gonna still do it in the NFL.”

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NFL teams still might see it as ‘high risk'

NFL teams still will see it as a risk to let an expensive draft pick overextend himself. They don’t want to double his chances of injury when they have other top players available on both sides of the ball.

Hunter said he understands how NFL teams will view the proposition warily “because it’s never been done.”

“They don’t want me to be a high risk, you know, if I go top pick − they don’t want their top pick to go down too early…” Hunter said. “I believe I can do it. Nobody has stopped me from doing it this far. I believe I can keep doing it, and I like it when people can tell me I can’t do it because it just motivates me to continue to do what I want to do.”

Hunter rarely has come off the field this season on offense or defense and has his team in the hunt for the Big 12 Conference championship.

Last week, Hunter became the first NFL or major college football player to have 50 receiving yards, a rushing touchdown and an interception in the same game in the past 24 years since Champ Bailey did it in the NFL for Washington against Arizona on Dec. 24, 2000, according to CU.

Hunter now is the odds-on favorite to win the Heisman, according to BetMGM. His teammate, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, ranks eighth on the same list of odds.

"If it’s between me and him, I would want him to get it, because he does a lot of amazing thing and things that ain't never been done before," Shedeur Sanders told reporters Thursday.

The next showcase for both players comes Saturday, when Colorado plays Kansas (4-6) at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Travis Hunter NFL draft: Colorado two-way star 'definitely' entering