Urban Meyer shares why Travis Hunter’s two-way talent is unprecedented
Everyone is thoroughly impressed by the ability of Colorado star Travis Hunter to play on both sides of the football extensively at a high level, but few can probably appreciate how impressive the feat is as well as Urban Meyer.
Meyer’s had potential two-way stars in the past. Elite, first-round NFL Draft pick stars.
On The Triple Option podcast, Meyer opened up on what Hunter’s been able to do this season playing on both sides of the football at an insanely high level.
“There’s three things I want to hit with this guy that I’m very passionate about,” Meyer said. “No. 1 is I keep hearing that there’s others that have done it. No there has not. There has not.
“There’s been — Chris Gamble at Ohio State really was a hell of a player. Our own Charles Woodson won the Heisman, but he didn’t do what this guy’s doing. You have Myles Jack at UCLA, another great player, but they’re bits and pieces. This guy’s playing 152 snaps or 130 snaps in a game, and I’m going to add this: He’s an All-American type player at each position. Charles was a guy that they would put in (on offense) as a hood ornament. You’d have to know where he is because he’s that good. But he’s not playing every snap.”
Travis Hunter is.
Not only is he playing just about every snap, he’s doing it at a high enough level to have a game-changing impact. On both sides of the football.
“No. 1 is this is a historical performance by this player and I know there’s been others close… not like this,” Meyer said.
The second thing Meyer pointed to was his own experience trying to develop a two-way star. He pointed to former Florida cornerback Joe Haden as a guy he tried to make it work with.
And lest you doubt Haden’s credentials as a superstar athlete, he was No. 7 overall NFL Draft pick in 2010. He earned his way to three Pro Bowl appearances.
“No. 2, how do you prepare? I tried to do that, Joe Haden. You guys know Joe, he was a phenomenal player for us,” Meyer said. “Actually was a quarterback in high school, then came and H-back, then we put him at corner. And I thought, ‘Man, we’ve got to play this guy.’ But our coaching staff couldn’t get it done, just because the corners coach wanted him, the receiver coach wanted him. And you do, you need to prep this guy.
“So you have to give credit to the Colorado coaching staff, not necessarily Deion, coach Prime, but the offensive and defensive coordinator and the receiver coach and the (cornerbacks coach), they have to work together off separate tip sheets. And it’s not as simple as go play receiver, you don’t do that. Or go play corner. They have to get him ready. We tried to do it with Joe Haden and were unable to do it.”
The final thing that Meyer wondered about Travis Hunter was whether he can keep doing it at this level for an extended period of time.
“Finally No. 3 is is this sustainable?” Meyer said. “It’s all on this player. Just the hydration. I mean they’re getting ready to go down into 110 heat index of humidity in Orlando, Fla. So those are the three things that just mesmerize me about this whole situation, Travis Hunter.”
Count Meyer impressed.
How impressed? Well, that’s something he’ll readily admit to right now.
“If he continues he’s going to New York,” Meyer said.