2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Travis Hunter

Strengths

• Incredible ball skills with elite ability to track and attack the deep ball.
• Good sized frame, standing 6’1 with impressive length.
• Shows an impressive release package demonstrating a genuine grasp of the art of getting open.
• He uses tempo effectively in his routes to deceive defenders and generate space.
• He has impressive YAC ability; he's really shifty with the ball in his hands.
• Not afraid of traffic and excels at making catches through contact.
• He has impressive body control; he is smooth and balanced throughout his footage.
• A clutch player who was relied upon in crucial moments and consistently came through.
• He possesses excellent quickness and long speed, effortlessly reaching his top gear.

Weaknesses

• Slim, slender frame with some injury history and durability concerns.
• Offers almost nothing as a run-blocker.
• Can occasionally get swallowed up by an aggressive jam at the line of scrimmage.
• Sometimes, he is too quick to create outside the system, leading to running out of open zones.
• He possesses good long speed, though not exactly a speedster.

Final Thoughts and Chicago Bears Fit for Travis Hunter

It’s tough to recognize the caliber of prospect Travis Hunter is. He’s a natural hands catcher with solid experience both inside and outside. He can separate with speed or quickness and excels at catching contested balls on the rare occasions when he doesn’t separate. He can attack you in the field's short, intermediate, and deep areas, making him a scoring threat anytime he has the ball in his hands. When all is said and done, he’ll likely be my #1 receiver in the draft class, and he might even excel as a cornerback. He is that good.

The cool thing is that you can see how his understanding of the game from a cornerback's perspective makes him even better as a wide receiver. He has an excellent sense of leverage and finding soft spots in the zone. He can find and track the ball as well as anyone in the class because he’s used to playing with his back to the quarterback. He also excels at manipulating the cornerbacks he faces by using varying tempos, attacking their blind spots, and using his hands downfield just enough to separate at the last second without drawing a penalty. He knows how to make a defensive back's life miserable because he spends half the game on the other side of the ball, trying to prevent other receivers from doing the same to him.

He’s a bit lighter than ideal for a true WR1 (185 lbs) and doesn’t contribute much as a blocker. However, those are probably the only significant concerns you might have about Hunter, which highlights just how great of a prospect he is.

One player comparison I like for Travis Hunter as a wide receiver is former Bengals star Chad Johnson. Both players are similar in size, run very savvy routes, and possess many skills for getting open from the release to the catch point. Neither is a freak athletically, but both are masters at simply getting open.

The Bears are currently drafting 10th, so unless there’s a significant move up, there’s virtually no chance he will still be available when Chicago is on the clock. I’m also unsure how he would fit alongside Moore and Odunze next season. Considering Detroit's offensive identity, I’d imagine Ben Johnson is looking to add a pure speedster as the WR3 in Chicago, and while Hunter isn’t slow, that isn’t his profile. Hunter is likely a lock to be in the top 5 and is gaining serious momentum as a candidate for the first overall pick.

Pro Comp: Chad Johnson