Jacksonville Jaguars first-round pick Travis Hunter has spoken with former Colorado teammate Shedeur Sanders following his slide to the fifth round in the 2025 NFL Draft and believes the new Cleveland Browns quarterback will make the most of his opportunity.
Hunter, the No. 2 overall pick last month, revealed the depth of his conversation with Sanders this week following rookie minicamp.
"We just going to work, man," Hunter said, via WFIN at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere in Los Angeles. "We both got our heads down, and doing what we have to do. There's a lot of doubters out there for him, and he's going to go to work. I'm going to go to work and just going to do what we've always been doing."
During Hunter's Heisman campaign last season with the Buffaloes, Sanders stumped for his two-way teammate and scolded detractors. Hunter finished with a Big 12-leading 96 receptions for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns en route to earning top player in the country laurels.
Now, the duo will take very different paths toward their first games in the NFL. Sanders has not expressed concernwith why he tumbled following various reports of multiple teams being "turned off" during the interview process.
His stock dropped in various mock drafts leading into the start of the event and continued throughout. Sanders reportedly earned "unprofessional" and "disinterested" labels during two meetings with NFL teams inside the top seven. This came after Deion Sanders' son was a driving force in Colorado's resurgence with one of college football's best 2024 season performances at the position.
"I think what happened was I had a great interview and a great process with the Browns and that's why they were able to pick me," Shedeur Sanders said after he was selected. "Anything outside the organization is really a non-factor to me now. This is my focus."
Sanders won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the top upperclassman quarterback in college football for the 2024 season. The unanimous Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year picked up numerous first-team All-American selections after his record-breaking senior year. Sanders left Colorado as the NCAA's all-time career leader in completion rate with a 71.8% mark, and he paced all quarterbacks last season with a 74% clip.
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Sanders completed 353 of his 477 passing attempts for 4,143 yards and 37 touchdowns. Each of those numbers led all Big 12 quarterbacks.