Mock drafts send Tech’s Hill to Houston, S.F.

If the mock drafts are to be believed, former Georgia Tech wide receiver Stephen Hill is going to be either a Houston Texan or San Francisco 49er. I don’t put a great deal of credence in mock drafts; it seems like they tend to mirror one anther and rely on conventional wisdom, which isn’t usually how teams actually pick. Plus, one surprise pick at the top or middle of the actual first round can change everything down the stream.

Regardless, what I take from it is that Hill will likely go in the first round or early in the second, which, as I’ve written before, is remarkable considering that his draft evaluation said that he didn’t have the potential to go in the first three rounds.

The logic with Houston is that wide receiver is considered a “need” position. Starters Andre Johnson and Kevin Walter will both turn 31 before the season starts. Johnson has missed 12 games in the past two seasons. The 49ers had needs at wide receiver, but signed Randy Moss and Mario Manningham, and re-signed Ted Ginn Jr. Moss is obviously a question mark and Ginn has 31 catches in the past two seasons with San Francisco, so one could say the need is still present.

An aggregation:

On nfl.com, three have Hill going at No. 26 to Houston, another slots him with San Francisco at No. 30 and one doesn’t have him in the first round.

Sports Illustrated’s Don Banks gives Hill to San Francisco. ESPN’s Mel Kiper also pegs Hill for the 49ers, as does his colleague Todd McShay, who wrote that Hill had “one of the most impressive combine workouts I’ve ever seen from a receiver.” (Both ESPN mock drafts are behind a pay wall.)

Two more mocks on cbssports.com place Hill in San Francisco and out of the first round.

Wes Bunting of the National Football Post also pegs Hill for the Texans, as does John McClain, the NFL writer for the Houston Chronicle.

He’s generally considered the fourth receiver in the draft, after Justin Blackmon from Oklahoma State, Notre Dame’s Michael Floyd and Baylor’s Kendall Wright.

The first round of the draft is April 26.

Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog

518 comments Add your comment

FL Jacket

March 30th, 2012
12:13 pm

kris…get to know the name Darren Waller

I know it’s difficult for many (WnE) to believe that it is possible to recruit great players without them having 4- or 5-stars next to their names…

Supersize that order, mutt

March 30th, 2012
12:15 pm

gotcha, SoCal

FL Jacket

March 30th, 2012
12:17 pm

SoCal…remember how it works

When UGA gets a kid to commit, whose only other offers were from UCF and UAB, they say “we got him early before the other SEC schools could offer him”

When Tech gets a kid to commit, whose only other offers were from UCF and UAB, they say “Tech can only get recruits whose only other offers were from UCF and UAB”

5150 UOAD

March 30th, 2012
12:19 pm

Anybody here where B RAMBO is now listed on the Mock Supplemental Draft Board?

5150 UOAD

March 30th, 2012
12:25 pm

Waller & Greene have been posting Pics and info on Facebook about practice. Greene has made some great catches but i hate that the Passes are looking not so good forcing the Circus Catches. Waller & Green are showing the great body control.

HighTech

March 30th, 2012
12:27 pm

Here’s what WnE had to say about Stephen Hill earlier….

WnE

December 14th, 2011
2:18 pm
Before you GT fan get too happy with our “steal” of a recruit from Bama, remember that we also stole 4* Recruit Stephen Hill from uga,and then they proceeded to recruit tons of WRs that have proven to be better than S. Hill, if Hill had gone to UGa he’d be the 8th option at WR for them.

Teams like Bama/LSU that lose these types of players and even uga sometimes can jsut shrug it off and keep on doing what they’re doing.

So. Malcolm Mitchell
So. Michael Bennett
So. Chris Conley

And those are just some of the WRs that have made ugag not even miss the 4* Recruit that we stole from them, not to mention Hill can’t catch very well vs. the good teams but is great vs. the crappy D1-AAs that GT plays.

In summary take it all with a grain of salt, sometimes these things don’t play out like you hope they will.
—————————————————-
WnE

December 14th, 2011
2:34 pm
No one said cry GTBbob, just temper your enthusiasm, remember the reactions from the GT fanbase when we stole 4*-S. Hill from uga.

Since then they/uga stole 2 WRs that we WANTED badly, Justin Scott-Wesley and Cris Conley that really could have been difference makers for GT.

From Hill’s constant drops vs. BCS team I’d say that uga got the best of the deal when we “stole” S. Hill from them.

GT Lee

March 30th, 2012
12:28 pm

here’s what I like about weeenie…

A) kids cannot get to the NFL in CPJ’s high school offense

BUT

B) when a Hill, Dwyer, Thomas, Allen get drafted by the NFL, IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM
PLAYING IN COACH FISH-FRY’S GIMMICKY OFFENSE!!!!

kinda contradictory, huh!!!!!!

5150 UOAD

March 30th, 2012
12:30 pm

WnE………….Answer my question.

Come meet some of the Bloggers before a tech home game. If you are such a fan i am sure you have tickets. We would love to hear your opinion in person. hell you can even eat some food with us and share youe wealth of knowledge.

GT Lee

March 30th, 2012
12:30 pm

guess they only made it to the NFL because Gailey recruited them!!!!!

GT Lee

March 30th, 2012
12:31 pm

plus I want to see his ring and lottery ticket!!!!

5150 UOAD

March 30th, 2012
12:32 pm

WnE sorry Accept my Offer. I guess would be a better statement.

Supersize that order, mutt

March 30th, 2012
12:33 pm

@ HT……THANKS. I knew he had posted crap like that, making him the liar he claimed I am, but I didn’t want to search the archives to find it. That’s probably only the tip of the iceberg too as far as negative things he said about Hill months ago.

Supersize that order, mutt

March 30th, 2012
12:34 pm

Notice how he has totally disappeared since being confronted with his lies. He’s not only a liar; he’s a coward too.

5150 UOAD

March 30th, 2012
12:35 pm

Well better to be discussing a Tech player in the draft than defending the use of illegal drugs. I guess it is all UGAs fault for making players take a drug test after spring break. I mean all the UGA people knew some kids would break the law and the school shouldn’t have tested. Like the brilliant UGa players didn’t KNOW a Drug test could be coming after Spring break. LOL

HighTech

March 30th, 2012
12:36 pm

You’re probably right Supersize. Would have to look at bbuzzoff from February of the year Stephen Hill signed with Tech. Isn’t CMR moving Malcolm Mitchell to defense? Makes sense for a WR better than Stephen Hill. lol.

BigTimeTechFan

March 30th, 2012
12:37 pm

@WNE

you are flat out wrong.
I saw S Hill on Fox South last night being interviewed by 3 NFL players. On discussing how he would handle expectations if he is drafted in 1st round.

Hill’s reponce was:
He’s been though it before, soph year replacing D Thomas, he sid he was not up to the task, but the “Coaches at GT Helped” and he had better year as a junior. He also said he generally relied on his athletic ablility in HS and thought he had it all because both his parents were world class track stars, but at Tech he learned how to work and improve.
So “The Coaching at Tech” did help him.

FL Jacket

March 30th, 2012
12:38 pm

5150…

Don’t laugh. Coaches like that are the ones that have relationships with SEC schools…

HaHaHa

March 30th, 2012
12:43 pm

The whole AJC tech page is hillarious.

1. Where one former player might get drafted
2. A former player might be on a video game cover
3. Our tennis coach is in jail

Nice Program

HighTech

March 30th, 2012
12:45 pm

HaHaHa…Good catch! I share your sense of humor. You should check out the AJC uga page. You will bust a gut laughing at that.

HaHaHa

March 30th, 2012
12:49 pm

At least there’s some decent recruiting coverage and coaching stories, mixed in with tales of getting blazed up.

1 4 GT

March 30th, 2012
12:51 pm

Filters gobbled 1st attempt. Even “B u c k” B e l u e was being critical yester day. I was stunned to hear 6 8 0 t h e F a n being critical of Georgie.

Paul in NH

March 30th, 2012
12:52 pm

Good luck to Hill in the draft and in his NFL career. He seems to have made quite an impression at the combine but NFL history is full of guys who did well pre-draft and didn’t live up to their “measurables” – a number of them were drafted at WR by the Detroit Lions.

GT Lee

March 30th, 2012
12:56 pm

troll hard, hahaha

George Stein

March 30th, 2012
12:56 pm

“Had Hill played in the same type of offense as one of those guys ranked ahead of him, then one could reasonably deduce that Hill would have been the #1 WR in this draft class had he played for a different HC in a different system.”

This is fundamentally untrue and really warrants no response.

George Stein

March 30th, 2012
12:58 pm

That’s fantastic, HighTech. All of sudden, Stephen Hill is all world and WnE has been telling us so for so long. Wait, what?

FL Jacket

March 30th, 2012
1:01 pm

Paul in NH…

IIRC, Charles Rogers, Roy Williams, and Mike Williams all came from passing offenses that should have prepared them for the NFL right?

Burdell

March 30th, 2012
1:03 pm

“A former player” — try the highest paid receiver in the league

Burdell

March 30th, 2012
1:06 pm

A list of topics from the UGA page…

# No charge against ex-UGA AD’s companion
# Bulldogs drop 3rd in a row with loss to Clemson
# Hines Ward considering coaching
# Gym Dogs falter at SEC championships
# Jarvis Jones’ lofty defense ambitions
# Blog: Report: Alec Ogletree, Bacarri Rambo suspended for multiple games
# Blog: More miscues from Diamond Dogs lead to 10-5 loss to Clemson
# Blog: UPDATED: Hines Ward says he wants to help Bulldogs win a national championship
# Blog: UGA’s Branden Smith hires attorney, could fight charges

I’d be proud too….

Supersize that order, mutt

March 30th, 2012
1:07 pm

HaHaHa is showing his desperation with the fact that UGA continues to prove on an almost daily basis that it is indeed the cesspool of the south. The behavior exhibited on that campus by the athletes, by the fans, and on some occasions by the coaches (”choke” Grantham, Bill Harrick, etc.) is an embarrassment to the state of Georgia.

Supersize that order, mutt

March 30th, 2012
1:08 pm

oops, make that Jim Harrick

FL Jacket

March 30th, 2012
1:11 pm

Burdell…

You mean the Highest paid player in the history of the NFL?

1 4 GT

March 30th, 2012
1:11 pm

Burdell—-I heard one commentator say Calvin’s contract was the richest in the league. I want to say this person(don’t recall who) say it was the richest in league history, but????

1 4 GT

March 30th, 2012
1:13 pm

Thanks FLJ! I thought that’s what I remembered hearing, but my memory wouldn’t totally confirm that thought.

FL Jacket

March 30th, 2012
1:13 pm

George…

I know you refrain from the “cesspool” talk because you think it’s the result of the actions of individuals…but at what point is something like what is happening at UGA systemic? The school probably has the most transparent discipline structure in the Southeast, if not all of college football, yet nothing they seem to do is a deterrent for the 8-10 kids who get in trouble every year.

Burdell

March 30th, 2012
1:14 pm

Yeah…I had originally typed that but then self-edited. Not too shabby…

FL Jacket

March 30th, 2012
1:15 pm

1 4…

I’m sure someone will get a contract that’s richer than $132MM ($60MM guaranteed)…but let’s enjoy it while it’s Calvin.

Burdell

March 30th, 2012
1:16 pm

UGA may recruit the same players as all the other football factories but it seems like a certain type of individual chooses to be DWAG…maybe that’s one of the problems.

1 4 GT

March 30th, 2012
1:19 pm

Since the subject has sorta, kinda been brought up involving the brownie incident, I am guessing everyone has heard the complete story?

GT Lee

March 30th, 2012
1:20 pm

well that’s 2 sports where a former Tech player has set the new payscale record….remember Kevin Brown being the highest paid MLB player for a while????

George Stein

March 30th, 2012
1:20 pm

I don’t know that is systemic there, FLJ. I mean, there are 85 guys on scholarship, so the vast majority are fine. But I think the greater issue is that I’ve seen no data to support the idea that football players get in trouble at a higher rate than the student population in general. Even then, we’d need to find out what the rate is at other schools to determine whether there’s a real issue.

Supersize that order, mutt

March 30th, 2012
1:21 pm

1 4 GT, what do you mean by the “complete story”?

GT Lee

March 30th, 2012
1:21 pm

if my glaucoma starts acting up, I’m making a run to Athens for some medicine!!!!!!!

George Stein

March 30th, 2012
1:23 pm

Matt Wieters is going to get paid a pretty penny in a couple of seasons, too, Lee.

Also, don’t forget about Mark Teixeira. He signed a $180MM contract with the Yankees two seasons ago. Meanwhile, Gordan Beckham is a lifetime .249 batter with a .318 OBP. Yikes.

Brock

March 30th, 2012
1:23 pm

Once again WNE gets called out and goes into hiding. Most of us have called him out for the stalking of Vad and he never would respond. Now High Tech has him in a blatant lie.

WNE- coward hard

Supersize that order, mutt

March 30th, 2012
1:25 pm

Brock, he called me a liar for pointing out his lies, but when HT provided documented proof of his lies, that’s when he disappeared.

Paul in NH

March 30th, 2012
1:26 pm

WnE

March 30th, 2012
11:24 am

Stephen Hill was never an “average talent player”; he was 25+ foot long jumper out of HS that also had a 41-in. vertical leap out of HS at 6-4 190lbs.

Stephen Hill was always an elite athlete based on his Track background, he just happened to keep his speed, explosion, and leaping ability after growing to 215lbs….

…..
CPJ has recruited so poorly, that his supporters feel the need to play fast & loose with the facts to make him look like he is a better coach than he really is.
——
It usually takes WnE a few posts to contradict himself, but here he does it in the same post.
Hill is an elite athlete….
Johnson can’t recruit elite athletes…

George Stein

March 30th, 2012
1:27 pm

He didn’t go into hiding, Brock. Lunch shift just isn’t over yet.

I typically stay away from that stuff but WnE makes me say things for which I can’t be held responsible.

FL Jacket

March 30th, 2012
1:28 pm

Brock…

His response to the Vad Lee stalking is to fire back at you to why you’re so interested in something that happened 15-16 months ago?

5150 UOAD

March 30th, 2012
1:28 pm

2 Live Stews ripping on a Bro? How can the Stews rip on Rambo? LOL

But But TECH is on NCAA probation and is a CHEATING School!

Hahah Yes Tech did do something Stupid by NCAA rules BUT I don’t see a LAW against it. I don’t see Cops arresting people for what Tech supposedly did. Told the coach he can’t play his player because of an investigation.

Smoking Dope may not be bad is some peoples eyes but it is Against the Law.

FL Jacket

March 30th, 2012
1:29 pm

Also…the NBA is capped I know but Chris Bosh I think is at the Max salary for a FA that switched teams…