CU Heisman Candidate Wants Broncos to Draft Him

Travis Hunter sent a message to the Denver Broncos this week.

Aug 29, 2024; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) reacts after scoring a touchdown in the first half against the North Dakota State Bison at Folsom Field. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

As it stands, Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter has the third-best odds of winning the Heisman Trophy. Whether he achieves the feat or not, Hunter is cruising for a top-5 selection in the 2025 NFL draft.

Hunter's NFL wish? To land with the Denver Broncos. That's what he told the Kickin It With Dee podcast.

"I wish I could go to the Broncos, just to stay in Colorado," Hunter said, "because so many people just welcomed us with open arms and they showed us love that we would never have gotten in a different spot."

Travis Hunter wants to be a Denver Bronco 👀

( 🎥 @KickinItWithDee YT) pic.twitter.com/fxoDU15X3n

— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) October 3, 2024

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Hunter also expressed a desire to be the first pick in the draft. It's possible. But he'll have some competition.

Hunter is a rare talent. But it's too soon for him to say which side of the ball he'll specialize in when he gets to the NFL.

The league typically pigeon-holes two-way players into picking a position and sticking with it, although there are exceptions. Deion Sanders flirted with it back in the day. Devin Hester was a two-way player who eventually made his bones as a returner.

Even Champ Bailey was a two-way threat as a pro. In his first year with the Broncos back in 2004, then-head coach Mike Shanahan rolled out a few offensive packages that featured Bailey — the NFL's preeminent shutdown corner at the time.

The Broncos sit at 2-2, so they're trending more for middle-of-the-pack when it comes to draft order. But if things go sideways this season, it's not outside the realm of possibility they could qualify for a top-5 draft pick.

However, despite an 0-2 start to this season, the Broncos telegraphed to the NFL that they're not throwing in the towel on 2024 or trying to tank by going 2-0 on an East Coast road trip to balance the scales at .500.

In a figurative, fantasy world where Hunter lands with the Broncos, Payton would be a kid in a candy store. Payton is one of the handful of NFL head coaches with the ingenuity and wisdom to use a player of Hunter's caliber on both sides of the ball.

Inexorably, Hunter would find his way to an NFL specialty, but the Broncos would definitely be a great landing spot for him — for reasons beyond the local CU connection and his desire to remain in Colorado as a pro. Time will tell.

In the latest episode of the Mile High Huddle podcast, Zack Kelberman and I discuss the prospect of Hunter landing with the Broncos in the draft. The Hunter conversation starts at the 17:48 mark.

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