Colorado Fans Believe Travis Hunter Got Robbed of a Deserving Honor

Alex Murray | 27/11/2024
Buffaloes cornerback Travis Hunter (12) after the game with Colorado Buffaloes and Utah Utes held at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake Ut.

Travis Hunter is having a season for the ages. NFL players who can play both offense and defense are impressive for many reasons, not least of which is how rare they are at the highest level. But not only is Hunter playing on both sides of the ball, he’s excelling to an unprecedented extent. Yet, the two-way star was left off the list of finalists for a coveted collegiate award.

The finalists for various NCAA football awards were announced on Tuesday. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Hunter was featured on the lists for not one, not two, but five of the most prestigious awards in college football.

He is a finalist for the Maxwell Award, for best all-around player (he seems like a shoo-in for this one), the Fred Biletnikoff Award, for best wide receiver, the Chuck Bednarik Award, for best defensive player, the Paul Hornung Award, for the most versatile player (he’s a lock for this one too), and the Walter Camp Award, for most outstanding player.

The list of honors is impressive, and while it is lengthy, there does seem to be one glaring omission here. While Hunter is a finalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award for best defensive player, he is somehow not a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given to the best defensive back in the nation.

Instead, the three finalists for the 2024 Award will be: Texas CB Jahdae Barron, Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, and Georgia safety Malaki Starks.

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders, who won the Jim Thorpe Award in 1988, was asked about Hunter’s snub. The coach was characteristically passionate, and even offered to simply give Hunter his own trophy.

As one might have expected, college football fansā€”and especially Colorado supportersā€”also had a lot to say about the oversight.

The fact that Travis Hunter is a nominee for best overall defensive player but not for his own specific position group doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, though there is a somewhat similar precedent. In 2011, Tyrann Mathieu won the Bednarik Award, but his teammate, Morris Claiborne, took home the Jim Thorpe Award.

However, the real question remains: does Hunter actually deserve to be a finalist over the other three guys, regardless of the other awards he’s up for? Let’s take a look.

Barron is the No. 1 rated DB on PFF when it comes to coverage (90.7). Hunter is CB5 in that category (89.6) while Downs (81.7) and Starks (73.0) are not quite as impressive at safety. Barron has four INTs, while Hunter has three, Starks has one, and Downs has none.

Barron’s 32.2 passer rating allowed also paces the group, with Hunter trailing him again at 47.1. The two safeties have allowed significantly higher ratings when targeted. Starks was elite when it came to tackling and run defense, but Downs was seemingly average across the board. Based on the numbers, it seems like Barron and Hunter should be the two contesting the Jim Thorpe Award.

Post Edited By: Samnur Reza
Colorado Buffaloes NCAA Football Travis Hunter

About the author

Alex Murray

Alex Murray

Alex Murray has been active in the sport media industry since his graduation from the prestigious RTA School of Media at TMU (formerly Ryerson University) in downtown Toronto. He has had a specific focus and interest on all things football and NFL, which stems from his father, who imbued him with a love of football and the NFL over all other sports at a young age. Alex even played football up until his freshman year of college, when he realized that he would find more success writing about rather than playing the sport. Alex has written for a variety of sports media outlets, including theScore, FanSided, FantasyPros, GiveMeSport, and more.

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