Has Vandy Found Their Own Travis Hunter?
You may have caught one of the SEC Media Day nuggets from ESPN writer Pete Thamel – specifically, the one where he “broke” the big news in a tweet that Vanderbilt cornerback Martel Hight will also be playing at receiver this upcoming season. Really? This was old news to those of us who saw him lining up on both sides of the ball in the Spring Game. It hasn’t exactly been a secret Hight has been working at the position through the offseason.
Thamel’s tweet was just another illustration of how little attention is given to the Commodores by the national media. But as we’re quickly approaching the season, the situation does beg the question – was this decision made because Hight is that gifted athletically? Or is this more indicative of serious questions about the receiving corps?
The truth is probably a bit of both.
On paper it makes sense – get the ball in the hands of your most talented players. And certainly no one can deny Hight’s raw talent. His first season he played 11 games and became the first freshman in program history to return an interception for a touchdown. This past season, he started all 13 games and finished the season with 33 tackles, 2 interceptions, 4 pass break-ups, and a forced fumble. He also expanded his role by returning punts, returning 18 punts for 265 yards and 1 touchdown – good enough to earn All-SEC second teams as a return specialist. Now he will add even more to his plate by lineup up at receiver, becoming a true three-way player.
This move comes off the heels of a season in which college football saw its most notable two-way player in modern history – Colorado’s Travis Hunter – who had a magical Heisman Trophy winning year playing both defensive back and receiver. His performance was impressive enough that the Jacksonville Jaguars traded up to take him with #2 pick in the NFL Draft and are still discussing letting him play both sides at the next level. Ironically, Hunter was a high school rival of Hight’s and served as a source of inspiration for his desire to play both sides of the ball.
“So, it’s crazy because me and him played against each other in high school, so we were back and forth, back and forth. But like I said, I did it in high school. I didn’t think it was actually possible to actually do it because of rules, but once I seen Travis do it, I was like, ‘hey, Coach, let me do that.’ And he kind of gave me the shot at it. We’ll see how it plays out.” Hight said at Media Days.
Head coach Clark Lea seems to be fully invested in the expanded role as well, to the point that he and Coach Jerry Kill have consulted with Colorado Coach Deion Sanders and his staff about managing and maximizing the workload of two-way players.
In an interview with CBS Sports’ Richard Johnson, Lea told him “Coach Kill has had conversations with Coach Prime at Colorado to talk about what their approach was. We’ve spent time on it as a staff, too, just talking about ‘Hey, what does this look like for us?’ What’s most important to me is we have a guy that has the ability to tip the field — where is he going to make the biggest impact for us?”
With Diego Pavia running the offense, the tight end rotation will be the clear strength of the passing offense. Eli Stowers could very well be the best tight end in the nation. Cole Spence and Brycen Coleman had impressive showings in the Spring Game and look poised for breakout seasons.
The receiver rotation, on the other hand, goes into the season with far more questions than answers. Junior Sherrill and Quincy Skinner Jr. were the primary receivers on the team last season, but neither had 30 receptions. Skinner has moved on, signing with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent. Sherrill returns as a solid option and will always live in Vandy lore for the long 4th-and-1 touchdown catch against Alabama., but he is probably best suited as a #2 or #3 receiver on an SEC roster.
Aside from Sherrill, not much production returns from last season’s roster. Overachieving slot receiver Richie Hoskins returns with 11 receptions and 2 touchdowns from last season. Credit him for carving out a role with the offense, but no one will ever confuse him with an upper echelon player. No other receiver returning from last year’s roster had more than three receptions.
Given how little production is returning, the two wideouts joining Sherrill in the starting lineup will likely come from transfer portal additions. The early favorites to take those spots would be Trent Hudson and Tre Richardson.
Hudson is already well acquainted with Pavia. Prior to spending the 2024 season at Mississippi State, Hudson played at New Mexico State where he was one of Pavia’s favorite targets with 36 receptions for 571 yards and 10 touchdowns. Richardson spent last season at Division II Washburn University where he was an all-conference selection after making 52 catches for 983 yards and 11 touchdowns.
The Commodores also landed Chance Fitzgerald from the portal, who played receiver at Virginia Tech. Fitzgerald played in 11 of 12 games for the Hokies but did not record a catch for the season. He had a couple of nice catches in the Spring Game and will likely be in the rotation, but it’s difficult to predict his impact on the offense.
With so many unknown variables at receiver, there is an obvious opportunity for Hight to make an impact with the offense. Just how big a role he will play remains to be seen and will likely change week to week depending on matchups and game flow dictating which side of the ball he is most needed.
“What is the amount of time that we use for him on offense, on defense? Those are important questions for us to answer,” Lea said. “We don’t want to run him into the ground, but we need him to impact winning, and he can do it in all three phases, so we’re going to position him to do that.”
While duplicating Travis Hunter’s performance is an unrealistic ask for the rising junior, there is no doubt Hight has the potential to significantly impact all three phases of the game. The Commodores are looking for more this season. Hight have a major say on whether Vandy can build upon their 7-6 season.
