Travis Hunter Tops List of Top 3 Draft Bust Candidates
It is faster and easier to anoint a draft superstar than to determine a draft bust. No one disputes that rookie Jayden Daniels rocked the NFL last year. Despite passing for nearly the same number of yards, and being close in other stats, many rate Caleb Williams a bust.
What is common in each example is that the player who generates the most “Bust Buzz” needs to be a high-profile, high pick, and have name recognition to be a bust. No one is debating if offensive tackle Joe Alt from Notre Dame was a disaster last season.
With a high profile and high draft pick criteria in mind, here are the top three candidates to become NFL Draft busts in 2025. Be sure to bookmark this article and check back at the end of 2025 or maybe even late 2026 to grade these predictions.
#1 – Travis Hunter, WR/CB, Colorado Buffalos
In 2022, Travis Hunter was playing for Jackson State. Now, he is projected by some as the top pick in the 2025 NFL draft. Not a bad prediction since he is fresh off a well-deserved Heisman Trophy Season at Colorado.
However, let’s go back to 2022: He played in just eight games at an FCS program. In 2023, he played in nine games for Colorado. Injuries limited his playing time each time. This past season was his breakout year, playing 13 games for the 9-4 Buffaloes.
Various reports put Hunter at about 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds. If he was injury-prone in college, the possibility increases as a smaller receiver and even as a cornerback. Hunter’s talk of playing on both sides of the ball on a full-time basis seems impossible with his size and the mere fact that it’s never been done. Since Hunter has indicated he would quit football if not allowed to play both offense and defense, his love of the game should be questioned.
If he plays both offense and defense, you have an undersized player who was injury-prone in college, played just three seasons, and now feels he can do what no NFL player has done in the modern NFL era. And if he is not allowed, he will quit.
All this puts Hunter at #1 for the top draft bust possibility.
#2 – Shedeur Sanders, QB Colorado
Let’s call this the Netflix impact. A documentary crew followed Shedeur Sanders around for a football season. We got to see how he missed a practice one time to be part of the Louis Vuitton fashion show in Paris. We saw a teenage kid enjoying life with money in his pocket from NIL deals and his dad. Now, watch how Tim Tebow went about business during college in the documentary Untold: Swamp Kings. Face paint, lifting weights with the linebackers; avoiding parties, he lived and died football and avoided all distractions.
Yes, Tebow can be characterized as an NFL bust. That is part of the point. Tebow grew up working on the family farm and worked out like a madman, led his team to a national championship, and moved onto the next level with limited success. Sanders grew up the son of a football star, had his dad (Deion Sanders) coach him since high school, and led his Division 1 team to 4-8 and 9-4 seasons after championship-caliber seasons for Jackson State.
Does Sanders live and die for football? Does he will his team to win like Tim Tebow? Will he have something to prove and strive for greatness like Tom Brady? Will he be a student of the game like Peyton Manning? Can you envision Patrick Mahomes skipping practice to attend a Louis Vuitton fashion show?
Each answer seems to be a “no”. That is why Sanders is listed as draft bust #2.
#3 – Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
How many times have you heard this one? “I am going to be the best running back in the draft and a top pick because I wrote a letter telling you so.” Well, the facts are off a little, but the real summary is that Ashton Jeanty skipped the on-field drills at the NFL Combine and, amid criticism, decided to write a letter. He wrote an open letter to NFL teams in the Players Tribute that stated “It’s TACKLE football … you know what I’m saying? I’d draft the guy they can’t tackle.”
In the same article, he compared himself to Saquon Barkley. However, it should be noted there was a disparity in competition during their college careers. In Jeanty’s three years, he played against a Mountain West schedule that included Utah State, Air Force, New Mexico, UNLV, Colorado State and San Jose State. During his college career, Barkley was up against Big Ten teams like Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa and Wisconsin.
While Barkley completed the on-field drills at the NFL Combine and excelled. Barkley ranked first among running backs that year in total score and completed a 4.4 40-yard dash, a 41-inch vertical jump and 29 bench press reps. Barkley did not write an open letter to the NFL to communicate his value.
At 5-foot-9 about 215 pounds, Jeanty has a lot to prove to show he can handle the physicality of the NFL. He is not playing men the size of the Utah State defense any longer.
For this reason, Jeanty is put as draft bust #3.
