Colorado Buffaloes NIL Star Travis Hunter Named Best Player in CFB

The Colorado Buffaloes have a star player that is dominating the NIL era was recently named the best player in college football.

Apr 27, 2024; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes cornerback Travis Hunter (12) warms up before a spring game event at Folsom Field. / Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Buffaloes have a couple of the most prolific players in college football and one of them recently took the top spot on a major player rankings.

Travis Hunter has taken the football world by storm as one of the best players on both sides of the ball. He shuts down receivers on defense and takes the top off of defenses as a receiver.

Hunter has one of the highest NIL valuations in the country. On3 NIL has him as the No. 4 ranked student athlete worth $2.7 million.

In Pro Football Focus' recent ranking of the best players in college football from Max Chadwick and Dalton Wasserman, the Buffaloes' playmaker took the top spot.

"Hunter tops this list because of his rare athleticism. The best modern-day comparison is baseball’s Shohei Ohtani, a player capable of dominating two ways while 99.9% of other players focus on excelling at one position. Hunter tallied 721 receiving yards and three interceptions in nine games for Colorado last year," said the writers. "Despite missing three games due to injury, he still led the nation with 1,044 snaps while earning 74.0-plus PFF grades on both sides of the ball."

In nine games last season, the Florida native racked up 57 catches for 721 yards and five touchdowns. On defense, he had 30 tackles with two for a loss and three interceptions and five passes broken up.

While those may not be the best numbers in the country at either position, the fact that he's able to play both at a high-level is very impressive.

It's no surprise that his games have become appointment television for football fans.

The time might soon come for him to commit to one side of the ball as he prepares for the NFL. He's expected to choose cornerback, but will still show out at receiver in his last college season.

His quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, also made the list as the No. 19 overall player. That might seem low, but he is the third-highest ranked passer behind Georgia's Carson Beck and Oregon's new starter Dillon Gabriel.

Sanders is the highest-ranked student athlete in terms of NIL value, given a $4.7 million assessment by On3.

Both players will be under a microscope this season with a lot of hype being built around the Colorado season.

It'll be their first year in the Pac-12 and should be the most consistent competition that either have faced in their career.