These posts will be coming out weekly on Wednesday mornings. I hope everyone that has made it this far will continue to follow along!

We continue our running rankings for this series, which means we only add players once I’ve posted them to this platform. Here’s where we stand:

1. Travis Hunter
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2. Tetairoa McMillan
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3. Emeka Egbuka

… of these threads and my rankings, I’m going to assume that he is a full time WR until we hear strong indications otherwise. And while we make that assumption, we know he is the top WR prospect in this class.

… purposes, is will he play enough snaps as a WR for it to be worth it? If he does, great, he’s easily the best WR prospect in this class. But if he is just deployed in packages or only plays ~50% of the snaps, is that enough to warrant his draft capital? For the purposes…

As you can tell, the negatives to Hunter’s tape is fairly minimal when compared to all the things that he does well. He’s a top tier WR prospect, even when compared to the great classes we’ve seen over the past handful of years. But the big question, especially for fantasy…

… and at times can throw off the timing of a play. Would love to see that be more concise and remain explosive on a consistent basis.

- At times you can see when the snap count is getting to him, especially when plays aren’t directed his way.

- Average as a blocker.

Now to the negatives from the tape:

- The big one is his struggles against more physical DBs. Whether at the line of scrimmage or within his route, he can get held up fairly consistently against those bigger DBs.

- Building on his LOS issues, his release can be drawn out…

SPEED

When Hunter gets out into the open field he has the wheels to create big explosive plays. He really creates it all in Clip 1 as he makes defenders miss and then turns on the burners for a big play. Clip 2 he shows off the acceleration and speed to make magic happen.

YAC

Hunter shows an ability to get yards after the catch in many different ways. He shows off his elusiveness to make defenders miss in Clip 1. Then nice physicality to break a tackle in Clip 2. Finally in Clip 3 we weaves through a congested area of the field for a TD.

SEPARATION

Building on the 2 previous sections is his ability to separate. In both of these Clips he lulls the DB to the outside and then explodes to inside leverage and then shows the acceleration to gain space for nice gains.

RELEASE

This can be hit or miss at times, but we’ll show some of the hits. Clip 1 he shows quick inside release and then the speed to stack the DB. Great jab step to throw the DB off balance in Clip 2 and then the acceleration to open up a huge throwing window for Sanders.

ROUTE RUNNING

Hunter is a nuanced route runner w/great pace. In Clip 1 we see a nice inside release paired with nice start/stop ability. Great tempo in Clip 2 w/the lull then acceleration to the start/stop again +YAC. In Clip 3 he keeps the DB off balance the entire route.

BODY CONTROL

This is an area that Hunter really excels at. In Clip 1 we see great extension over the middle of the field. Then in Clip 2 he does a great job of working off script to find the soft spot, then great ability to stay in bounds and then to turn upfield for + yards.

CONTESTED CATCH

Building on his hands is his contested catch ability. In Clip 1 he makes a spectacular catch falling backwards and fully extending. Then in Clip 2 he again makes a great catch through the defender, fighting all the way through.

HANDS

Hunter consistently shows reliable hands. We see that right away in Clip 1 as he shows great body control on the sideline to stay in bounds. Clip 2 he shows nice ball tracking as he slows up for the pass but again that body control to contort his body for the TD.

Let’s jump into the pros from the tape:

- Reliable Hands
- Elite Body Control
- Natural Separator
- Nuanced Route Runner
- Exciting YAC-ability
- Lineup Versatility
- High End Speed

… won the Heisman Trophy as well as Big 12 DPOY in 2024. As a senior he posted 1250+ receiving yards and on the defensive side secured 3 interceptions as a sophomore and 4 as a junior in 2024.

Travis Hunter was a highly decorated collegiate athlete. He was recruited as both a DB and a WR out of high school and decided to join Deion Sanders at Jackson State as the top recruit in his class. He followed Sanders to Colorado where he went on to be a 2x All American and…

[[THREAD]]

Travis Hunter, WR out of Colorado. Hunter went from the top rated prospect out of high school to the top rated transfer as a sophomore to the Heisman Trophy Winner in 2024.

The big question though - will he play both sides of the ball? Let’s dive into his WR tape ⤵️

These posts will likely be coming out weekly on Wednesday mornings going forward. I hope everyone that has made it this far will continue to follow along!

As always, we end these threads with our running rankings, only including players once I’ve posted their breakdown on X. Here’s where we stand:

1. Ashton Jeanty
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2. TreVeyon Henderson
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3. Quinshon Judkins
4. Omarion Hampton

He’s an excellent athlete (9.68/10 RAS) that shows flashes of being a bell cow that can be effective in all facets of the game. But can we trust that’s what we’ll get each game? I’m sure NFL GMs have the same concern. Because the other version of Hampton is incredibly pedestrian.

Overall, Hampton is a very perplexing prospect. At times he looks like he could be one of the best running backs in this class. And he’ll do so for an entire game. But other games he looks incredibly limited and just a north/south runner that is used as a battering ram.

- While a bell cow running back, he can overall just be very inconsistent. Some times it looks like he sees a hole and lowers his head and gos instead of playing with more nuance and leaning on his athleticism.

- Looks like it takes him a minute to get up to full speed. While he has that second gear, he doesn’t control it super well which hinders him when trying to get to the edge of runs.

- Inconsistent elusiveness.

- Lacks consistent change of direction ability.

Now into the negatives:

- Average at best vision. Usually decent, but can run into his Olineman more often than you’d like to see. Seems to miss some cutbacks and generally has minimal patience. Likes to commit to an opening, lower his head, and just go.

PASS PROTECTION

Hampton’s pass protection really impressed me. He’s more than willing to attack the point of collision with an incoming blitzer. And he brings that same power he has in his running style to blocking for his teammates. At times he can miss some assignments though.

RECEIVING

Hampton isn’t CMC out of the backfield, but is serviceable on RB routes with reliable hands and solid YAC-ability. We see just that in Clip 1 as he uses his contact balance to create plus yardage. Solid elusiveness in Clip 2. And just reliable hands into YAC in Clip 3.

SPEED

While maybe not a consistent home run threat, Hampton can take it to the house when he gets in to the open field. He does just that in Clip 1 as he runs through contact & gets behind the defense for a big TD. Similarly in Clip 2 he uses that burst to create the house call.

POWER

Building on his contact balance is his power. In Clip 1 he lowers his should & runs through tackles for plus yardage. Clip 2 he just keeps his legs churning as he lowers his shoulder for contact. Again in Clip 3 he keeps his legs churning - with a bit of help from his OL.