Steelers Land Highly Touted Colorado CB in Way-Too-Early 2025 Mock Draft
The 2025 NFL Draft is still nine months away, but it’s never too early for a mock draft, right? In the 33rd Team’s way-too-early 2025 mock draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers landed highly touted Colorado cornerback Travis Hunter at 14th overall.
“While Travis Hunter can play corner and wide receiver at Colorado, his best fit at the next level is probably on the defensive side. His instincts and ball skills are much rarer on that side of the ball. The Pittsburgh Steelers will be smitten with Hunter’s tough-nosed mindset, and he’ll fill a huge need across from Joey Porter Jr.,” Ian Valentino of the 33rd Team wrote.
Hunter rated as a five-star prospect and No. 1 overall recruit nationally in the 2022 recruiting class. He played his first season at Jackson State, where he was the highest-ranked prospect to ever commit to an FCS school. Hunter transferred to Colorado in 2023, winning the Paul Hornung Award and earning consensus All-American honors that season.
ESPN’s Matt Miller thinks Hunter will have to decide whether to play wide receiver or cornerback at the next level. He was Colorado’s second-leading receiver with 57 receptions for 721 yards and five touchdowns. On the defensive side, Hunter finished with 30 tackles, two for loss, five pass deflections and three interceptions.
“He’s a three-way player,” Miller said on SportsCenter. “But I do think at some point, he’ll be really forced by NFL teams to make a decision. We saw last year, he was playing more snaps than anyone in college football early in the season. And then, he had an injury — not related to his playing time — and he had to miss multiple games. So I think step one, he’s got to prove he can stay healthy. He’s not a big guy. He’s an undersized player.
“And then, I think that ability to just hone in on one position,” Miller added. “To say, I’m gonna work on understanding the intricacies of the wide receiver position or the technique of the corner position. He’s gonna have to make that decision. But he is a playmaker where you want the ball in his hands.”
The Steelers will probably need to have a losing season to land Hunter. He most likely will be a top 10 pick. CBS Sports Chris Trapasso recently projected Hunter to go No. 4 overall to the Washington Commanders in his latest the 2025 NFL Mock Draft.
Pairing Hunter with Joey Porter Jr. certainly would be intriguing. It would form one of the top young CB duos in the NFL. The Steelers could be in need of a quarterback if the Russell Wilson and Justin Fields experiment is an absolute disaster, however. Carson Beck, Shedeur Sanders, Garrett Nussmeier, and Jalen Milroe were all selected in the top 10 in the 33rd Team’s mock draft.
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