DENVER — Two of the greatest football players in University of Colorado history will almost certainly be picked in the first round of the NFL Draft Thursday – but how long will we wait to hear their names called?
Heisman Trophy winner and two-way standout Travis Hunter – who has said he intends to play both offense and defense in the NFL – and quarterback Shedeur Sanders are the subjects of some of the most buzz of any prospects in this draft.
Denver7 Sports brought in a pair of experts to help forecast where each may be headed at the next level.
ESPN’s Louis Riddick, who works both as a NFL analyst and college football commentator – calling several CU games over the last two years during Hunter and Sanders’s tenure – told Denver7 in an exclusive interview that he believes Sanders is uniquely qualified to walk into a floundering NFL franchise and help turn it around.
- Watch more from Nick Rothschild's interview with Louis Riddick in the video player below:
He led what was a middling Jackson State program to back-to-back SWAC Championships in 2021 and 2022 before following his father and head coach Deion Sanders to Colorado. The Buffs, who were 1-11 the year before the Sanderses – and Hunter – arrived on campus would go 4-8 in their first season and 9-4 with an AP Top 25 finish in their second.
“He is not fazed by anything that’s going on around him,” Riddick said. “He can process fast as hell, he’s very accurate with the football, he has enough mobility in the pocket to buy time, move up and escape right or left, he can throw equally as well going right or left, and he put Colorado back on the map.”
“Isn’t that what you’re looking for in a quarterback who you’re going to bring into a place and try to flip fortunes?”
Riddick says the best place for Sanders to land is the Bayou, as the New Orleans Saints now have a very uncertain future at the quarterback position after reports surfaced about Derek Carr dealing with a serious shoulder injury that may require surgery and potentially cost him the entire 2025 NFL season.
“New Orleans would be sweet at No. 9,” he said. “I think when that ninth pick comes up you can best believe there are going to be some people in the Sanders household [crossing their fingers, if he isn’t picked before that.”
Field Yates, one of ESPN’s NFL and fantasy football gurus, said Sanders could fall anywhere between the third overall pick by the New York Giants – who already have Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston under contract at QB – and No. 21 to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Hunter figures to be one of the first players off the board. Yates said he would be “stunned” if Hunter fell past the New England Patriots at pick No. 4.
“I think No. 1 is probably out of range right now. The Titans are going to take [Miami quarterback] Cam Ward,” Yates told Denver7’s Lionel Bienvenu. “He's the best player in the draft. In my opinion, he is a franchise alterer. I think we overuse the term generational talent [but] I think it's appropriate in the case of Travis Hunter. He might be a multi-generational talent, because I can't recall a player who brings nearly this amount of versatility to the table.”
Mel Kuiper, Jr., who is one of the most revered talent evaluators in sports media, gave Hunter the second highest grade of any draft prospect he’s ever seen, Yates said.
“The only player with a higher grade? John Elway. So Broncos fans understand just how much praise that is from Mel Kuiper,” he said.
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