College Football

Travis Hunter is the best player in college football, and it's not close

Updated Sep. 23, 2024 10:15 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

RJ Young

FOX Sports National College Football Analyst

The best player in college football is Travis Hunter, and it's not close.

Hunter forced a fumble to seal a 38-31 win against Baylor in overtime to seal Colorado's Big 12 win. Before that play, he caught seven passes for 130 yards.

He has already caught 37 passes for 472 yards through four games. He ranks sixth in the country in receiving yards and fifth in the country in receptions.

He ranks second in the country among Power 4 receivers in receptions, and third in receiving yards.

On top of this, he has actually played more snaps on defense than on offense, and he's got an interception over there, too. He'd likely have more INTs if teams threw at him more often. Even while he is playing both ways, teams are reluctant to attack him.

He'll enter the NFL as the man with the best ball skills of any rookie in the league.

He's the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. NFL franchises just don't know it yet. (Though it should be noted that our own Rob Rang predicts Hunter will go No. 1 overall in his latest mock draft.)

Charles Woodson's individual blueprint is already one Hunter can match.

In 1997, Woodson caught 11 passes for 231 yards and two TDs. Last year, Hunter caught 57 passes for 721 yards and five TDs, nearly tripling Woodson's offensive stats in five fewer games. 

Fans storm the field after Travis Hunter helps Buffs top Baylor in OT

But Woodson also had seven INTs and was a menace as a punt returner on his way to winning the Heisman. And, crucially, he played on the national title team — the best player on the best team.

A 6-6 CU isn't gonna win Hunter the Heisman. In fact, it's more likely to kill his campaign. CU needs to go 8-4 like Lamar Jackson's Louisville or 9-3 like Jayden Daniels' LSU. 

Hunter must somehow come up with at least five INTS, 10 TDs and 1,000 receiving yards. He also needs the Buffaloes to win at least eight games and sniff the Big 12 title game. 

But many Heisman voters don't appreciate some of the sport's outstanding players if they don't play on big brand teams. Ashton Jeanty has done more than enough already to earn attention that should have him in a conversation with Cam Ward at Miami, Jalen Milroe at Alabama or Dillon Gabriel at Oregon.

There are few players who have won the Heisman without being the best player on the best team. Jackson and Daniels pulled it off, but they're quarterbacks. Hunter is not. 

Hunter, at Colorado, is like Randy Moss at Marshall, Calvin Johnson at Georgia Tech or Larry Fitzgerald at Pitt. None won the Heisman. All are in that team called The Best to Ever Do It.

But what none of them has done — not even his superstar head coach Deion Sanders — is play more than 100 snaps in every game in a season. We have never seen this kind of talent and stamina on display in a sport defined by tough guys. We have not seen any player even attempt to play as many snaps as Hunter appears engineered to do.

We have not seen this kind of individual brilliance and burnished brawn in any other athlete aside from Shohei Ohtani, and he plays baseball. Ohtani became the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases.

Hunter can become the first player to record 500 receiving yards and multiple INTs in more than one season. He just needs one more INT and 28 receiving yards. This fact alone should earn him recognition as a Heisman finalist. This year that isn't enough. At this pace, at the end of Act 1 of the most important season in history, recognize a player in Hunter who is pushing the sport into the future.

And crown him.

Crown Travis Hunter as the nation's best player.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The Number One College Football Show." Follow him at @RJ_Young and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube.

[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]

share

Get more from College Football Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

College Football

Colorado Buffaloes

Travis Hunter

CFB - Baylor Bears vs. Colorado Buffaloes - 09/22/2024

RJ Young