Travis Hunter (CB, Colorado) Film Study
A deep dive on Travis Hunter's film at cornerback.
There isn’t a more fascinating prospect in the 2025 draft class than Travis Hunter.
The Colorado Buffaloes superstar managed to become an effective and productive two-way player at the FBS level.
He earned consensus All-American honors in his first season for Colorado, racking up three interceptions and five pass breakups on defense while catching 57 passes for 721 yards and five touchdowns as a receiver.
The biggest question Hunter faces as an NFL prospect is which position he’ll play at the next level. There are some teams that might believe that Hunter could still be a two-way player, but that feels unlikely.
Instead of watching Hunter at both positions, let’s just dive into his defensive film to see the kind of role that he could play as an NFL cornerback.
The thing that immediately stands out on Hunter’s tape is what an instinctive corner he is in coverage. He has ELITE feel for when to drift off of his assignment and try to make a play on the ball. It’s a credit to both his post-snap processing and his weekly preparation with watching film and understanding tendencies of teams and quarterbacks.
There aren’t many corners in college football with these kinds of instincts. It can be a really risky decision to leave his assignment, but Hunter tends to have a great feel for when it’s worth it to try and be an athlete over staying disciplined with his assignment.
That doesn’t mean that Hunter doesn’t show any discipline to his game. In fact, there are moments where he can stay extremely disciplined, even when quarterbacks are trying to go off-script to make a play.
The play above is a great example of that discipline. After initially stepping up as the opposing quarterback starts to escape, Hunter got his head turned to recognize the wide receiver crossing the field, allowing him to get back into his drop and make sure the crosser was covered.
Hunter wasn’t the biggest corner in 2023 (his listed measurements at 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds feel generous), but the Buffaloes weren’t afraid of having him play in press coverage. He wasn’t a true disruptor or jammer at the line of scrimmage, but showed good patience when in press to not overcommit with his hips and/or shoulders, allowing him to stick to receivers with ease.
Something that surprised me when watching Hunter’s film is how solid of a tackler he is. It’s not like he is delivering hit sticks out there, but his athleticism and tackling technique allows him to wrap up, tackle low, and drive his legs through contact to consistently bring defenders down.
That especially shows up in the quick-screen game, when Hunter is able to explode downhill and make a play before the receiver is able to make any kind of play after the catch.
Hunter was credited with just three missed tackles for a missed-tackle rate of 8.8 percent this past season.
On the other end, there are some concerns with Hunter as a cornerback. Despite his listed frame, it feels as if he lacks length to be as effective as you’d like a corner to be in contested-catch situations.
Hunter allowed five touchdowns in coverage this past season, along with a few explosive plays like the one above, seemingly because he doesn’t have the size and length to compete with more physical, big-bodied receivers.
For as instinctive as Hunter can be, there are times that his aggressiveness can result in feast or famine. This undercut attempt ended up being too difficult, resulting in a reception behind him.
The lack of size might have already been resolved for Hunter. The Colorado cornerback has reportedly added 17 pounds of muscle to his frame over the offseason, which could help him against more physical receivers in the Big 12.
It’s going to be a pivotal year for Hunter, who should be considered an elite NFL draft prospect regardless of the position he ends up playing at the NFL level.