Titans hint at drafting Travis Hunter No. 1, even if mocks disagree

The Tennessee Titans have turned over their front office since the NFL season ended and with it comes a possible big hint at who they’re targeting with the first pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

“We won’t pass on a generational talent with the first pick in the NFL Draft,” Titans President of Football Operations Chad Brinker said on Wednesday, introducing the team’s new general manager Mike Borgonzi. Brinker the former assistant to GM Ran Carthon, ran the search to replace the executive who was fired at season’s end and resulted in long-time Kansas City staffer Borgonzi going to Nashville. The moving parts are notable but the quote is pretty telling since there seems to be only one player billed as generational in this year’s draft.

The player many view as one of a kind is Heisman winner Travis Hunter. Never has a modern-day footballer played on both sides of the ball the high level of power conference football, let alone do it with the obscene production that Hunter did this past fall. Featuring as the country’s award-winning best receiver and the nation’s award-winning best defender for his cornerback skills, Hunter led the Colorado Buffaloes to an Alamo Bowl appearance. He finished with a Big 12-best 96 catches for 1,258 yards, which were both fourth in the NCAA last fall. Hunter’s 15 receiving touchdowns were a school record, conference-best and second-best in the nation. He’s also added a rushing touchdown on a jet sweep. It’s for all of this offense that Hunter won the Biletnikoff Award. Defensively, Hunter racked up 36 tackles, four interceptions, 11 passes defended as well as a game-winning forced fumble on defense. Those ball-hawking skills placed Hunter at or near the top of the Big 12 leaderboard which is why he won the Chuck Bednarik Award.

Many believe Hunter’s quarterback Shedeur Sanders will be taken ahead of him since the position is so valuable in the NFL. And if now Sanders, it’s Miami gunslinger Cam Ward who could jump both Buffs players. That’s actually the situation ESPN laid out in their latest mock draft, published Wednesday, which has the Titans taking Ward first, with Hunter going to the Browns followed by the Giants selecting Sanders third.

Oddsmakers setting the line for the top pick are obviously not looking at the mocks but what was said. Hunter’s odds to go first have shot up from +1,400 to +400 in the last 24 hours.

The Titans went 3-14 so they’re looking for help at just about every position. The top three teams in the Draft could need a quarterback with the only question being the Browns because of their commitment to DeShaun Watson, though his Achilles injury means the team still does not have a starter for 2025. The Patriots and Jaguars have their signal callers but again at No. 6 and No. 7 the Raiders and Jets may be players for a rookie quarterback and might shake up the order. This all comes back into play in the scenario where Hunter goes first because past public comments by Deion Sanders hint that his son may not want to play for a team like Cleveland, which could throw a wrench into the entire draft. Though experts are split on if Sanders or Ward is the top quarterback in the class and the Buffs tosser would seemingly be happy to go to New York.

For now, the Titans are on the clock and it seems they may have already made up their mind.