In the 2025 NFL Draft, no prospect was more interesting than Colorado’s Travis Hunter, the 2-way sensation who played so well at corner and wide receiver that he won the Heisman Trophy Award last year. That led to the Jacksonville Jaguars trading up to No. 2 overall to draft him last week.
Now, NFL sportsbooks have released their odds for the 2025 Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year awards, and Hunter is a key candidate in both categories with the expectation he’ll continue playing both positions in the NFL on a regular basis, something that really hasn’t been done in the last 60 years of NFL history as specialization has taken over the sport.
At BetOnline (check our BetOnline Review), Hunter has +750 odds for Offensive Rookie of the Year, and that’s where his odds also opened at Defensive Rookie of the Year before moving to +1000.
But is he a good bet for either, or will his 2-way ambitions actually hurt him at performing his best to get recognition?
Offensive Rookie of the Year
At BetOnline, here are the top odds for the leading candidates for 2025 Offensive Rookie of the Year:
- Ashton Jeanty (+260)
- Cam Ward (+375)
- Travis Hunter (+750)
- Tyler Shough (+800)
In Hunter’s case here, he is fortunate that the 2025 rookie class on the offensive side is not a good one like 2024 where you had several quarterbacks who started right away, multiple No. 1 wide receivers who were productive, and an all-time great rookie tight end in Brock Bowers.
This year, you may only see Cam Ward as a Week 1 starter at quarterback. Someone like Tyler Shough still has to deal with Derek Carr in New Orleans, and Jaxson Dart is behind Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston. Ward may end up with big numbers, but the Titans may also struggle to win too. The Jaguars are favored to do better in the AFC South as well.
Nothing Is Guaranteed
Ashton Jeanty is an obvious favorite, but that doesn’t mean a running back is guaranteed to win the award as we saw with Bijan Robinson in 2023. The Raiders are also a work in progress with a new coach and quarterback (Pete Carroll and Geno Smith) and play in a tough division.
No tight end has ever won OROY, so that could be hard for Colston Loveland (Bears) or Tyler Warren (Colts) to win the award despite their high expectations.
Hunter’s Role
In theory, Hunter has a shot, but the issue is wide receivers who win this award are always No. 1 receivers on their offense, or they have such a huge impact, they catapult to No. 1 like Randy Moss over Cris Carter for the 1998 Vikings.
In Hunter’s case, he has to deal with Brian Thomas Jr., who was a great receiver right away as a rookie and should only get better this year. That’s why Hunter is unlikely to eclipse 1,000 yards or have a ton of touchdowns right away when he’s not the best pure wideout on his team.
Also, there’s the fact we don’t even know what the real plan is for Hunter’s snaps. Does he play enough to be the clear WR2, or does he only serve in certain packages and 2-minute situations or when the team is trailing late?
That makes him a risky pick for OROY, and that’s why picks like Ward and Jeanty are certainly much safer.
Defensive Rookie of the Year
At BetOnline, these players have the best odds for 2025 Defensive Rookie of the Year:
- Abdul Carter (+250)
- Jalon Walker (+700)
- Mason Graham (+750)
- Mykel Williams (+900)
- Mike Green (+900)
- Travis Hunter (+1000)
The strength of this draft was the defensive line and edge rushers, so it’s no surprise to see a handful of them ahead of Hunter in the odds, including No. 3 overall pick Abdul Carter, the No. 1-ranked edge rusher in the class.
Edge has a significant advantage in winning this award over linebackers and defensive backs because of sack totals that are eye-popping to voters. We also have sources with pressure statistics, and those are more widely used than cover metrics for corners.
Corners also rarely win this award. Sauce Gardner was one of the few exceptions with the Jets in 2022, and he even did it with few interceptions. He built a reputation early for his coverage and it was enough to prevail.
Hunter’s Snap Distribution Will Be Key
For Hunter, we have at least some better assumptions that he’ll probably play more snaps at corner than he will at wide receiver. The ideal plan would be to have him as a full-time corner who sometimes plays offense than vice versa. That doesn’t really work when you’re playing part-time corner after you were rated as the No. 1 corner in your group, and the Jaguars don’t really have a proven corner better than him.
So, Hunter could have a better shot to win it on defense as he’ll be more used on that side of the ball in theory.
Why Hunter Isn’t a Good Pick for Either
Some sportsbooks are already offering odds boosts for Hunter to win both rookie awards, but the fact is he’s really not a good pick for either right now, especially until we see the exact plan of use for him.
Both Titles a Long Shot
On offense, he’s stuck behind Thomas and won’t be able to accumulate true WR1 stats that you need to win this award unless Thomas is seriously injured early in the season.
On defense, he’s in a tough position that isn’t known well for stats, and he’s probably going to need at least 5 interceptions and good coverage stats to wow enough people to vote him over one of those edge rushers. That group has so much talent that one of them is likely to notch 12 sacks this year or whatever looks good enough for voters.
Finally, this is with the assumption that voters will do the right thing and not vote for Hunter because of his 2-way uniqueness. Many felt that helped him win the Heisman in a narrow race over Jeanty last year. What he did was remarkable and unique.
NFL Format Hurts Hunter’s Case
In the NFL, there isn’t an overall Rookie of the Year award you can vote or bet on, which would be the ideal way to honor Hunter’s season if he ends up playing both sides. If voters honor that you’re voting for the best Offensive Rookie and the best Defensive Rookie, then Hunter should come up short for both.
Remember, he averaged 111 snaps per game at Colorado, which would amount to over 1,800 snaps in a 17-game NFL season. We have no evidence of someone ever playing 1,400 in an NFL regular season, so he could be simply gassed trying to match this in the pros.
That’s why this could be the 1st case of Hunter’s ambition shortchanging his ability to be great at one side of the ball. Merely being good on one side shouldn’t be enough to win either OROY or DROY award.
