BOULDER — Orlando Carter’s got a little Travis Hunter in his game, just waiting to come out. Boo knew?
“That’s a goal I want to accomplish, yeah,” new CU cornerback/return man told me Friday during the Buffs’ annual football media day. “I’ve been a two-way player my whole life. When I got to college, I had to pick a side.”
He’s good with all of them, truth be told. But his first school, the University of Tennessee, nudged him to defense, where he turned heads two years ago as a freshman slot/nickel corner and punt returner. CU coach Deion Sanders has had Carter manning one of the Buffs’ starting boundary corner slots at camp, opposite fellow transfer Cree Thomas, formerly of Notre Dame.
“I was helping Tennessee at defense because they wanted me to,” Carter beamed. “But me going to offense? I would love that.”
Granted, the new CU cornerback isn’t a total Hunter clone. was a long, springy college football unicorn at 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, blessed with the kind of hops that would make Superman jealous.
Carter, who’s got two years of eligibility remaining, is more compact at 5-11, 200. But his reported high-school 40 times were dancing in the 4.37-4.39 range — not far off Hunter’s estimated 2025 pace.
As a senior at Bradley Central (Tenn.) High in his native Chattanooga, Carter caught 55 passes for 911 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’d rushed for 678 yards with 780 receiving yards and 28 total touchdowns as a prep junior at Chattanooga Christian School.
“I played slot. I’m a scatback like Deebo Samuel,” Carter explained “I like Chris Johnson. Chris Johnson was my favorite player. Debo’s good, though. Debo’s smooth. I like him.”
Could lightning strike twice at Folsom Field in four seasons? As long as newcomers Danny Scudero and DeAndre Moore are healthy, the Buffs should be pretty well stacked at receiver. Still, you can’t give Julian Lewis too many potential home-run threats to play with. House calls from the slot are just as sexy as six points from rainbows up the boundary.
“I think Boo can do it. If there’s a guy that can do it, it’s him,” Scudero told me Friday. “I would definitely say Boo could do it. That would be pretty cool.”
Word out of camp is that the only guy who can slow Carter down is Coach Prime. And Sanders is focused on shaping Boo into an NFL cornerback, first and foremost, given that the latter’s got his eyes on the 2027 draft.
“Boo could be a pro this year for certain, but he’s a bona fide, top-5 pick (for 2028) if it was another year (of him in college),” Sanders explained. “But this year (the 2027 draft), I feel like he can be a first-rounder. When he puts it all on tape, and does (it) when he’s capable of doing it, he’s the best athlete on the team. He can do multiple things.”
Including playing both ways?
“I think he’d shine there (on offense),” Sanders said. “(But) that was our deal: Dominating the defensive game, and then we’ll see about that.”
Carter’s been down this road before, having looked to play offensive snaps, Sanders-style, with Tennessee after a freshman season with the Volunteers in which he led the SEC in punt-return average (16.5 yards) and was named to the league’s all-freshman team.
But things went off about 13 rails in Knoxville before bigger orange dreams could be realized. . He was put on what was believed to be a de facto probationary period early in the 2025 season before meeting conditions and returning to the team. Carter was reportedly not dressed or even in attendance for the Vols’ Nov. 15 win over New Mexico State, and UT officials confirmed reports the following day that the Chattanooga native had been dismissed from the squad.
“Haven’t had any problems with him whatsoever,” Sanders said Friday. “And he’s not problematic. He just wants to know you and wants a relationship, (wants) to understand … that you’ve got his back. And I think he knows that (from) me.”
And from family. His mom and sister are living in Boulder now, Carter says, to help with the transition to life in the Front Range.
“I’m not doing any comparison,” Carter said. “I liked Knoxville at the time, but (there was) this stuff happening, altercations happening, but you keep going. You move forward. You can’t stop the grind, can’t stop the process. But, yeah, I feel like the brotherhood here (at CU) is pretty good. We’re all newcomers, so we’ve got to have each other backs, no matter what.”
Carter turned up at CU with a bucket list, one that included catching the ball from time to time. But he’s found a few more boxes to check first.
“To be (named) MVP on defense, most valuable to the defense,” the CU defensive back said. “Really, just leading the (Buffs) to a winning record. They say we’re going 1-11. I don’t believe that.”
“Wait,” I interjected. “Who said you were going 1-11?”
“The media,” Carter said.
“Not any media in Boulder,” I said.
“But I want to prove we’re better than that, obviously,” Carter countered.
Fair enough. If he offers half the horsepower Hunter brought to the party, that shouldn’t be a problem. Even if he’s not driving the Boo Train down a 2-way street.
