PFF calls Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter the ‘Shohei Ohtani’ of college football

Tony Adame

PFF calls Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter the ‘Shohei Ohtani’ of college football image

Few college football players have capture the public’s imagination in recent years like Colorado star Travis Hunter – the first legitimately dominant two-way player in recent memory as a shutdown cornerback and game-changing wide receiver. 

PFF put Hunter on its Preseason All-American Team as a “Flex” player following a season in which he won the Paul Hornung Award as the nation’s most versatile player and earned consensus All-American honors despite playing in just nine games. 

From PFF: “It would be almost impossible for any other player to fill this role better than the Shohei Ohtani of college football. Hunter played 1,074 snaps last season (622 on defense, 452 on offense and 30 on special teams). Not only does he play both sides of the ball, but he is very good at both, earning 70.0-plus PFF grades in almost every category.Hunter actually recorded more receiving yards (721) than he allowed on defense as a cornerback (414) in 2023. It will be interesting to see how Colorado utilizes him this season and the type of impact he’ll have on the team.”

Hunter, who is projected as a first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, has a high profile off the field as well. He’s the No. 3 player in On3.com’s NIL valuation rankings at $2.7 million and is featured on the cover of arguably the most anticipated sports video game in years — EA Sports College Football 25 — alongside Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and Michigan running back Donovan Edwards.

 

Tony Adame

Tony Adame Photo

Tony Adame covers the Big 12 Conference for The Sporting News. He is a graduate of Southern Oregon University and has been a sports journalist for 20 years. He has won APSE Awards for breaking news, games stories and feature writing. He is also the writer and host of the Florida Society of News Editors Award-winning podcast The Sheriff: Murder, Lies & Revenge in Okaloosa County for USA Today/Gannett.