As the spotlight gets turned on Colorado for this season, quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way star Travis Hunter continue to get a ton of positive buzz for the 2025 NFL draft.

In a ranking of the top 25 players in the 2025 class, ESPN’s Field Yates has Sanders and Hunter as top-10 talents right now.

EDGE defenders James Pearce Jr. from Tennessee and Mykel Williams from Georgia are the top two players, per Yates. Georgia’s Carson Beck is the top quarterback in the class and No. 5 overall prospect.

Sanders checks in at No. 7 on Yates’ list, with particular praise for his “surgical passing from the pocket with a cannon arm and incredible accuracy” after completing 69.3 percent of his attempts last season.

Hunter slots in as the ninth-best player in the class.

“There isn’t a more natural playmaker in college football than Hunter, as the dual threat for Colorado makes difficult things look easy from both his wide receiver and cornerback alignments,” Yates wrote.

Yates is an outlier among draft analysts by having Sanders ahead of Hunter. The cornerback-wide receiver hybrid is ranked second on the consensus big board right now. Sanders isn’t far behind at No. 6.

Hunter’s ability to play on both sides of the ball makes him arguably the most unique prospect in the 2025 class. He was on the field for more than 100 snaps in seven of the nine games he played last year.

The No. 1 overall prospect in the 2022 recruiting class, Hunter caught 57 passes for 721 yards and five touchdowns as a receiver, while intercepting three passes and recording two tackles for loss as a cornerback in his first season at Colorado.

Given how well Hunter has played on both sides of the ball in college, NFL teams will have a lot to evaluate to determine what they want his primary position to be. It would seem like a waste of his ability to limit to just one position in the pros.

Sanders’ evaluation also figures to be interesting because the highlight-reel moments can look as good as any quarterback in this class, but he’s also prone to taking a lot of negative plays.

There were concerns last year about the volume of hits Sanders was taking. Some of this was due to a leaky Colorado offensive line that struggled in pass protection. There were plenty of times, though, when it was Sanders’ decision to hold onto the ball longer than necessary.

“While I admire his willingness to exhaust every down,” NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah wrote in July, “Sanders’ tendency to never give in and hold the ball results in far too many sacks.”

Sanders still finished last season with 3,230 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and three interceptions. The overall picture looks very good, despite some flaws when you really examine it carefully.

Colorado is hoping incoming players Jordan Seaton—the No. 1 offensive tackle recruit in 2024, per 247Sports’ composite rankings—and Texas transfer Payton Kirkland can provide better protection up front.

Even though it’s a tired cliche to say a quarterback shouldn’t be afraid to take what the defense gives them, Sanders needs to show he is capable of doing that to keep his stock ascending.

The raw talent and performance Sanders has shown suggests he can be a high-first-round pick in 2025. He can solidify that status by making some small adjustments to his game.

Sanders and Hunter will get to showcase their skills for the first time this season on Thursday when Colorado opens the 2024 campaign against North Dakota State.