Deion Sanders masterfully tried to manipulate teams into giving Travis Hunter what he wants, i.e., the option to play on both sides of the ball in the NFL. He leveraged Hunter’s fifth-year option to send a message to teams looking to draft the two-way star. However, media personality Rich Eisen believes Sanders’ threat is “more bark than bite.”
Advertisement
Eisen called Sanders’ bluff on the Rich Eisen show, asserting that “He’s [Hunter] not coming back to Colorado,” despite his fifth-year option.
He believes that even if the team drafting Hunter chooses not to let him play on both sides of the ball, the WR will not opt to go back to Colorado to play another year of college ball.
“Don’t draft him if you’re not gonna give him a opportunity to play on both sides of the ball,” Sanders had said on Eisen’s show last year. Eisen did ultimately agree with Sanders on the idea of letting Hunter play in both DB and WR roles.
“If you don’t play him both ways… and your offense is struggling, and you’re a head coach, and you’re best offensive weapon is standing next to you on the sideline, how’s that going to play? That resonates with me. He could not be more right about that.”
Both Eisen and Sanders are pitching for teams to be open-minded and creative with how they make the best of Hunter’s capabilities. Eisen agreed with Sanders’ stance of using Hunter’s abilities when and if required. As Sanders had pointed out, “you’re gonna look like an idiot with your best receiver is sitting on the bench and you can’t get open.”
While Sanders’ perceived threats may be toothless, he is right to have confidence in his player. Hunter just may be that great of an athlete, and media pundits such as Eisen recognize the hype surrounding the 21-year-old prospect.
Eisen thinks Travis could be the Shohei Ohtani of the NFL
Believing in Hunter’s dual-threat capabilities, Eisen sees no reason why the soon-to-be former Colorado Buffalo can’t be the NFL’s next big sensation.
“What a fascinating figure. This could be like the [Shohei] Ohtani of the NFL. I’m serious… If you think he can play both ways and be effective… how the hell is he not the number one overall draft choice?”
Much like Ohtani—who’s become an MLB icon for his methodical approach to both pitching and hitting—Hunter has the raw talent that will need just a little more polishing.
In the two years in which Hunter played at Colorado, he managed to prove that he was more than capable of providing meaningful play. On both sides of the ball.
However, the NFL is a much different beast. Being asked to guard Garrett Wilson in a game is a tall task for anyone. Being tasked with getting open on Sauce Gardner in that same game would be even more impossible to ask of someone. But that doesn’t mean teams should not be open to that possibility at all.
The skill gap between college and the pros could not be any more apparent, and Hunter won’t have the luxury of squaring up against PAC-12-level talent. While he does enjoy the benefit of having an NFL Hall of Famer as a mentor, it will be interesting to see what happens when the training wheels come off.
