Harsh Criticism for Meyer Over Etienne Move to Receiver
Urban Meyer has not coached a single game in the NFL, but even so, his first offseason in the league has not gone without controversy—starting with his move to make former Clemson running back Travis Etienne a wide receiver.
"That's the reason we drafted him is the opportunity to be a dual-threat guy and our history as long as we've had a guy like that and we saw him as a guy like that in the draft this year," Jacksonville head coach Urban Meyer said last weekend. "Right now we're focusing on the fundamentals of wide receiver play, learning the offense from wide receiver."
This move led ESPN analyst Marcus Spears to issue a scathing rebuke of Meyer—along with a bold prediction
"I need to process this bullcrap,” ESPN analyst Marcus Spears said Monday on Get Up. "Damn, Urban. First of all, if Travis Etienne is going to be a wide receiver in the Jaguars offense, Rashod Bateman went two picks later to the Baltimore Ravens. The dude was an elite back at Clemson, national champion, he did his work out of the backfield.
"If James Robinson is the guy, go draft a wide receiver. This is crazy. I don't want to overreact crazy and I expect Etienne to be in the backfield, but if this dude is going to line up solely in the slot, Urban Meyer is going to be on TV again over there on FOX talking about college football in 2022.”
Meyer responded to criticism of his decision this past weekend on 1010XL 92.5 FM JAX Sports Radio.
"I think you need complements," Meyer said. "I just love great backs. And at Ohio State, we had Zeke Elliott, Carlos Hyde. And right now, we have James Robinson — who is a stud and Carlos Hyde, who I have a great history with. So we have two big, downhill backs — and they can do other things, too — but I think Travis is he's that dual.
"He's the Percy (Harvin) — we're hoping. I mean, those are big shoes, when you say something like that. But you've got Parris Campbell, you've got Curtis Samuel, those types of players. Offensive coordinators love those kind of guys who can do multiple things."
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