Two of Colorado’s brightest stars could open the 2026 NFL season on opposite sides of the ball.
The Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars are set to meet in Week 1, putting Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter on the same field as pros for the first time. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. MT on Sunday, Sept. 13, and CBS will carry the game.
If both players are in the starting lineup, it becomes a direct showdown: Sanders at quarterback for Cleveland, Hunter at cornerback for Jacksonville. That kind of matchup was already familiar in their college days, first at Jackson State and later at Colorado, where the two built their biggest stage together.
Sanders and Hunter were both key figures for Colorado in 2023 and 2024 before entering the 2025 NFL Draft. Colorado has already retired both of their numbers, with Sanders’ No. 2 and Hunter’s No. 12 hanging in the rafters.
Sanders’ Boulder résumé was loaded. Over two seasons, he passed for 7,364 yards, 64 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, and he finished 2024 as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.
The Browns took him in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and he went on to start seven games as a rookie in 2025, posting a 3-4 record with 1,400 passing yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Whether he opens the 2026 season as Cleveland’s starter is still up in the air.
Hunter’s college production was just as eye-catching, and he did it on both sides of the ball. Working with Sanders at Colorado, he became his favorite target while playing receiver and cornerback.
At wideout, Hunter caught 153 passes for 1,979 yards and 20 touchdowns. On defense, he added 66 total tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, seven interceptions, 16 passes defended and one forced fumble.
His accolades piled up fast. Hunter earned Consensus All-American honors in 2023, then took another leap in 2024 by becoming a Unanimous All-American, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and the winner of the Heisman Trophy. Jacksonville selected him No. 2 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Hunter’s rookie year was cut short after seven games because of a season-ending knee injury. Before that setback, he had 28 catches for 298 yards and a touchdown on offense, along with 15 total tackles and three passes defended on defense.
Their path to this NFL meeting runs back even further than Boulder. Sanders and Hunter were teammates at Jackson State before both followed Deion Sanders to Colorado in 2023, after Coach Prime took over as head coach of the Buffaloes.
Hunter arrived at Jackson State as the No. 1 ranked high school recruit in the 2022 class, choosing the FCS program over schools such as Florida State.
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