Urban Meyer has never been shy about offering his opinion, especially when evaluating talent. The former Ohio State head coach has seen his share of elite prospects, from college legends to future NFL stars. But heading into the 2025 NFL Draft, two names stand out to him above the rest — and he didn’t hold back sharing why.
Appearing on the April 11 episode of “Run It Back” on FanDuel TV, Meyer not only revealed who he believes is the most unique player in this year’s class but also took time to defend one of the most polarizing quarterback prospects in the draft: Shedeur Sanders. With both praise and caution, Meyer offered teams an honest assessment of what to expect.
Urban Meyer Raves About Travis Hunter, Defends Shedeur Sanders’ NFL Potential
When asked about the top of the draft, Meyer didn’t hesitate.
“It would be hard for me to not take Travis Hunter with that first pick,” Meyer said. “I love that guy. I think he’s a once-in-a-generation, once-in-a-lifetime player. He can do things that I’ve not seen other people do.”
The high praise for Hunter didn’t stop at his raw skill. Meyer pointed to Hunter’s stamina, motor, and rare versatility — he played both sides of the ball at a high level throughout his career at Colorado under Deion Sanders.
“On the 160th play of the game, he’s blocking guys 25-30 yards downfield. I know it’s college, I get that, but in my lifetime, I’ve not seen a guy do that,” Meyer added.
Meyer took a more analytical tone regarding Sanders. While his draft stock has been all over the board recently, the college coaching legend believes the evaluation process hasn’t been entirely fair to Sanders.
“If you really study Shedeur Sanders, he was on the move the whole time. His offensive line in his last two years was not good,” Meyer said. “His second year, they were awful — and they got a little bit better.”
Meyer argued that that lack of protection makes it difficult to truly evaluate Sanders as a pure pocket passer, a concern some scouts have flagged during the pre-draft process.
“There are a lot of question marks around the ‘pocket passer’ because he hasn’t done that a lot,” Meyer admitted. “And the second thing — and I’m kind of fighting for him because I do like this kid, we covered him a bunch — is that he really hasn’t faced the best of the best.”
Meyer’s breakdown wasn’t necessarily a ringing endorsement, but it was a message to NFL teams: Don’t dismiss Sanders because of what was around him. And when it comes to Hunter, if Meyer had control over the No. 1 pick, that’s where it’d be going.
Interestingly enough, Sanders and Hunter go in back-to-back picks — No. 2 and 3 — in PFSN’s latest NFL Mock Draft.