RG3 calls out Eli Manning over suggestion Travis Hunter practiced ‘zero’ offense at Colorado

Travis Hunter could potentially be one of the most unique NFL talents in recent memory. That’s why the Jacksonville Jaguars traded up to grab him as the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft.

So far, the two-way talent hasn’t exactly been elite on either side of the ball, though he’s impressed the Jaguars coaching staff enough to play substantial snaps on both offense and defense. If Hunter develops into a starting-caliber player on both sides of the ball, his value to the Jaguars roster will be unique compared with every other player in the league.

Hunter certainly showed those skills in college while at Colorado. He posted over 1,200 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns last year, all while being an elite cornerback. One Heisman Trophy later, and it’s easy to see why a team like the Jaguars would value him so highly.

And on Monday night, Eli Manning revealed a tidbit about Hunter that blew people’s mind. During Monday’s ManningCast, Eli shared that Jaguars head coach Liam Coen told him that Hunter participated in “zero” practice as a wide receiver at Colorado, instead only focusing on his defensive skills.

“I talked to Liam Coen. He said while [Hunter] was at Colorado, he practiced zero with the offense. He only practiced defense. They just kind of had a special system where they had signals. The coach would just signal the formation to him, and then signal the route to him. So he just improvised, just went out there, winged it as a receiver. So he’s still learning right now how to be a receiver,” Manning said.

That would be an incredible story, if it were true. But according to Fox Sports college football analyst Robert Griffin III, the story is “a lie.”

“This is a lie. Travis Hunter practiced on both sides of the ball at Colorado. Coach Prime even had Travis practice exclusively on offense for nearly an entire spring football to refine his skills as a WR. Then practiced him at Corner for a day and he had 3 ints. Just let him play,” Griffin wrote in a social media post responding to Manning’s story.

Griffin would appear to be right based on a 2023 story featured on the University of Colorado Athletics website. The story, which covers the third practice of the Deion Sanders era, prominently features a picture of Hunter catching a ball as a wide receiver.

Now, parts of what Manning said could very well be true. Perhaps it was easier for Colorado coaches to simply signal to Hunter the formation and routes from the sideline instead of having him learn a full playbook for both sides of the ball. It’s not as if Manning would fabricate an entire story and attribute it to Coen.

But it seems clear that Hunter also participated in some level of practice on the offensive side of the ball in college. It’d be difficult to develop his level of receiving skills without it.