Brian Hill, RB, University of Wyoming, Delcares for Draft

[ColtsFanMikeC]

Brian Hill was 3rd in FBS with 1,860 rushing yards (and 22 TDs) this past season as a junior after ranking 9th in the nation with 1,631 yards as a sophomore.  He has averaged well over 5 ypc throughout his collegiate career after being thrust into action mid-way through his true-freshman season due to injury to upper classmen.  While the UW team was solid this year (winning the Mountain side of the Mountain West before losing to SDSU in the overall conference final), they were very bad last season (at one point the lowest ranked team in the country) and not much better the previous season... so for him to have put up those stats says a lot to me.

 

I have been keeping a close eye on him, as I'm in grad school at UW and attend almost every home game and watch most of the away games on TV.  He has very good speed, excellent power and excellent vision.  He is a big play threat (this past year he had at least 5 games with runs of 49 yards or more).

 

He has not shown a whole lot as a receiving threat, but the style of UW's offense has not really put him into situations where he would have to be used as a WR.  From the few opportunities he has been given, I have not seen him drop anything or do anything to suggest he could not do well if he was used as a receiving back.

 

He is 6'1" and 219 lbs. and has shown to be very durable.  NFLDraftScout has him ranked as the 10th best NFL prospect at the RB position (I tend to disagree and think he should be higher, but I may have some bias there).  He has also been clocked at 4.47 in the 40.

 

He seems like a very down-to-earth guy and I have not heard anything about him being in any sort of 'off-field' trouble.  From seeing him around campus, he seems like a good person.

 

I'll be interested to see how he 'tests' between now and the draft, but expect he'd be a late 2nd to 4th round pick.  I for one, would be pretty darn happy to see him go from Wyoming Cowboy to Indianapolis Colt in the 3rd or 4th. 

 

He's also from the Chicago area, where he was a HS star.

 

 

[SP_21]

Very interesting perspective. I've been meaning to take a look at him because his production on such a poor team is remarkable. 

[ColtsFanMikeC]

1 hour ago, SP_21 said:

Very interesting perspective. I've been meaning to take a look at him because his production on such a poor team is remarkable. 

 

^watch starting around 35 seconds here... the last run was after he already had >200 yards in that game. 

 

 

^This video shows his speed/quickness to get to the outside and turn the corner, a bit of his receiving skills, his break away speed, his shiftiness and some of his power.

 

^This video is a short interview with him... I think it shows his character a little bit.

[twfish]

Great right up. By the way draft breakdown has 3 of this season games and they will add more. These videos are of every snap he takes a game not high lights when I get more time I'll watch his tape and I'll get back with you on my opinion http://draftbreakdown.com/players/brian-hill/

[NewColtsFan]

4 hours ago, ColtsFanMikeC said:

Brian Hill was 3rd in FBS with 1,860 rushing yards (and 22 TDs) this past season as a junior after ranking 9th in the nation with 1,631 yards as a sophomore.  He has averaged well over 5 ypc throughout his collegiate career after being thrust into action mid-way through his true-freshman season due to injury to upper classmen.  While the UW team was solid this year (winning the Mountain side of the Mountain West before losing to SDSU in the overall conference final), they were very bad last season (at one point the lowest ranked team in the country) and not much better the previous season... so for him to have put up those stats says a lot to me.

 

I have been keeping a close eye on him, as I'm in grad school at UW and attend almost every home game and watch most of the away games on TV.  He has very good speed, excellent power and excellent vision.  He is a big play threat (this past year he had at least 5 games with runs of 49 yards or more).

 

He has not shown a whole lot as a receiving threat, but the style of UW's offense has not really put him into situations where he would have to be used as a WR.  From the few opportunities he has been given, I have not seen him drop anything or do anything to suggest he could not do well if he was used as a receiving back.

 

He is 6'1" and 219 lbs. and has shown to be very durable.  NFLDraftScout has him ranked as the 10th best NFL prospect at the RB position (I tend to disagree and think he should be higher, but I may have some bias there).  He has also been clocked at 4.47 in the 40.

 

He seems like a very down-to-earth guy and I have not heard anything about him being in any sort of 'off-field' trouble.  From seeing him around campus, he seems like a good person.

 

I'll be interested to see how he 'tests' between now and the draft, but expect he'd be a late 2nd to 4th round pick.  I for one, would be pretty darn happy to see him go from Wyoming Cowboy to Indianapolis Colt in the 3rd or 4th. 

 

He's also from the Chicago area, where he was a HS star.

 

 

 

He's on my list of roughly two dozen RB's to consider.   

 

This is down four from a few weeks ago.  

 

We lost Chubb from Georgia, Freeman from Oregon, Hood from N.Carolina and Michel from Georgia.     All going back to school.      Good for those kids.      Hope it works out for them.

 

But roughly two dozen other RB's of draft ability remain.     And I'm sure there will be more.    We'll know in about 3 weeks.       Declaration date is Mid-January.     I think around the 16th or so.

 

[ColtsFanMikeC]

14 hours ago, twfish said:

Great right up. By the way draft breakdown has 3 of this season games and they will add more. These videos are of every snap he takes a game not high lights when I get more time I'll watch his tape and I'll get back with you on my opinion http://draftbreakdown.com/players/brian-hill/

 

Thanks for this link.... I just went through some of his game vs. New Mexico and the Poinsettia Bowl vs. BYU --- one thing I forgot to mention was his blocking.  He also seems very solid there.

[Archer]

Thanks.  I'm a fan too.  With Chubb and Freeman returning to school, and Kamara looking like a 2nd round pick, I'm starting to zero in on Hill as my third round favorite...

[JRnINDY]

6 hours ago, ColtsFanMikeC said:

 

Thanks for this link.... I just went through some of his game vs. New Mexico and the Poinsettia Bowl vs. BYU --- one thing I forgot to mention was his blocking.  He also seems very solid there.

Hill was the 2nd best RB in the poinsettia bowl. The best was/is Jamaal Williams. I feel he's as good as any perceived 1st rounder and can be had in the 3-4 Rd. He is a 3 down back.

 

[twfish]

Watched some games and I definitely like his pass blocking and his straight line speed isn't bad. However his acceleration is okay, his vision is okay my biggest knocks is he runs standing up right and does not get low and use the power I think he has. He has very little shake too him as well. Not a bad back and wouldn't mind him in the 5th maybe late 4th.

[jshipp23]

Julius Randle 2.0...

[ColtsFanMikeC]

5 hours ago, twfish said:

Watched some games and I definitely like his pass blocking and his straight line speed isn't bad. However his acceleration is okay, his vision is okay my biggest knocks is he runs standing up right and does not get low and use the power I think he has. He has very little shake too him as well. Not a bad back and wouldn't mind him in the 5th maybe late 4th.

Talking about Hill or Jamaal Williams (replying to post above you from JRinIndy)?

 

IMO, Hill has good vision, very good straight line speed (4.47 and has hit plenty of HR runs), solid acceleration, and he can get low when he needs to.  It is pretty rare for him to not gain yards after initial contact and from watching him for 3 years in person, I recall many situations where he picked up tough yards on 3rd and short or near the goal line where he was able to drive piles with him.

 

I wouldn't be shocked if someone reached for him in the 2nd, but I would not be disappointed if the Colts snagged him in the 3rd or 4th... highly doubt he is around in the 5th (doubt he goes any later than round 3, tbh).

[NewColtsFan]

59 minutes ago, ColtsFanMikeC said:

Talking about Hill or Jamaal Williams (replying to post above you from JRinIndy)?

 

IMO, Hill has good vision, very good straight line speed (4.47 and has hit plenty of HR runs), solid acceleration, and he can get low when he needs to.  It is pretty rare for him to not gain yards after initial contact and from watching him for 3 years in person, I recall many situations where he picked up tough yards on 3rd and short or near the goal line where he was able to drive piles with him.

 

I wouldn't be shocked if someone reached for him in the 2nd, but I would not be disappointed if the Colts snagged him in the 3rd or 4th... highly doubt he is around in the 5th (doubt he goes any later than round 3, tbh).

 

I could be wrong, but I don't see either Hill or Williams going in the 2nd.

 

Honestly,   I don't see them going on Day 2.

 

I think teams will start looking for them in R4.

 

Note:   This is my view as of late December.     Things could easily change between now and the draft as more information is gathered.....

 

[akcolt]

43 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

I could be wrong, but I don't see either Hill or Williams going in the 2nd.

 

Honestly,   I don't see them going on Day 2.

 

I think teams will start looking for them in R4.

 

Note:   This is my view as of late December.     Things could easily change between now and the draft as more information is gathered.....

 

I'm with you I don't see any scenario that either guy goes round 2. Day 3 sounds about right. Williams had a significant knee injury at MTSU and has some off the field questions. 

[DougDew]

13 hours ago, twfish said:

Watched some games and I definitely like his pass blocking and his straight line speed isn't bad. However his acceleration is okay, his vision is okay my biggest knocks is he runs standing up right and does not get low and use the power I think he has. He has very little shake too him as well. Not a bad back and wouldn't mind him in the 5th maybe late 4th.

Agreed.  He doesn't look quick enough, powerful enough (upright), or agile enough to be an impact player in the NFL.  He also seems to be built tall and thin, which suggests not holding up to punishment over a season. 

[ColtsFanMikeC]

9 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

I could be wrong, but I don't see either Hill or Williams going in the 2nd.

 

Honestly,   I don't see them going on Day 2.

 

I think teams will start looking for them in R4.

 

Note:   This is my view as of late December.     Things could easily change between now and the draft as more information is gathered.....

 

 

I don't see either going in round 2, either..... I said I wouldn't be shocked to see a team 'reach' for Hill at the end of round 2, but wouldn't be upset to see him selected in the 3rd or 4th.  I really don't see him lasting past round 4, but I could be wrong (like you said, it's only December... plus, many drafts have 'runs' at positions which are unexpected and can greatly alter things).

 

2 hours ago, DougDew said:

Agreed.  He doesn't look quick enough, powerful enough (upright), or agile enough to be an impact player in the NFL.  He also seems to be built tall and thin, which suggests not holding up to punishment over a season. 

 

He is 6' or 6'1" and 219 lbs.... Edgerrin James was 6'0" 219.  They have almost identical builds (not saying Hill is the next Edge... but he definitely has a body which has size for NFL -- Adrian Peterson is 6'1" 220 lbs..... this seems to be a prototypical size for an NFL RB). 

 

I think his quickness and agility are just fine for the NFL.  I can see the powerful (upright) argument -- he has plenty of power when he's going full speed and in the secondary with his upright running.  I have seen him get low on goal line and short yardage situations and he seems OK, but from the tapes, you are right, he seems to take the ball standing upright in many situations where if he gets hit in the backfield he struggles a bit.

[DougDew]

6 minutes ago, ColtsFanMikeC said:

 

He is 6' or 6'1" and 219 lbs.... Edgerrin James was 6'0" 219.  They have almost identical builds (not saying Hill is the next Edge... but he definitely has a body which has size for NFL -- Adrian Peterson is 6'1" 220 lbs..... this seems to be a prototypical size for an NFL RB). 

 

I think his quickness and agility are just fine for the NFL.  I can see the powerful (upright) argument -- he has plenty of power when he's going full speed and in the secondary with his upright running.  I have seen him get low on goal line and short yardage situations and he seems OK, but from the tapes, you are right, he seems to take the ball standing upright in many situations where if he gets hit in the backfield he struggles a bit.

There weren't many clips of him having to change direction much, but he just seems to lack the ability to change direction like Edge or AP, just comparing the RBs you quoted for size.

 

I think how a player's weight is distributed matters.  I can't tell for sure, but he seems to be top heavy with thin hips and legs, which would impede his ability to drive for power, adding to his upright style.  The way uniforms fit and look actually matter too, so its hard to tell about weight distribution.  He certainly was productive and somebody to consider.

[ColtsFanMikeC]

17 minutes ago, DougDew said:

There weren't many clips of him having to change direction much, but he just seems to lack the ability to change direction like Edge or AP, just comparing the RBs you quoted for size.

 

I think how a player's weight is distributed matters.  I can't tell for sure, but he seems to be top heavy with thin hips and legs, which would impede his ability to drive for power, adding to his upright style.  The way uniforms fit and look actually matter too, so its hard to tell about weight distribution.  He certainly was productive and somebody to consider.

 

I should probably not have used Edge or AP for comparison (other than they have very similar size).  Edge and AP are 2 future HOFers -- to judge a kid who has yet to be drafted against them is unfair -- my point was he's got NFL size.  You are right in that weight distribution matters, but I am pretty confident the guy has very powerful legs... he was also a 'bell cow' for 2 years at UW and I don't recall him ever missing time due to injury (not NFL competition, but the Mountain West and teams they faced outside of conference are often legitimate teams).