Tech’s Hill could be a 49er
SI.com draft expert Tony Pauline believes former Georgia Tech wide receiver Stephen Hill could go late in the first round when the NFL draft begins Thursday. San Francisco looks like a possible landing spot with the No. 30 pick.
“If he doesn’t go late first round, I can’t see him getting past the first six to eight picks of round two,” he said.
Pauline said Hill could go as early as No. 16 to the New York Jets. He believes the Jets are trying to trade out of that spot, but if they don’t, “People say (Notre Dame’s Michael) Floyd would be a tough pick for the franchise with the state it’s in now.”
(Floyd had a DUI arrest and two underage-drinking offenses.)
About half of the mock drafts I reviewed give Hill to San Francisco, which is going into the draft with proven receivers in Mario Manningham and Michael Crabtree but question marks in Randy Moss and Ted Ginn Jr. Others give him to Houston at No. 26 and the rest to teams in the first five or six picks of the second round.
For whatever it’s worth, San Francisco reportedly brought in wide receiver prospects Rueben Randle (LSU), Kendall Wright (Baylor), A.J. Jenkins (Illinois) and Hill for pre-draft visits, which could all well be a smokescreen.
As for Tech’s other draft entrants – A-back Roddy Jones, wide receiver Tyler Melton, A-back Embry Peeples, defensive end Jason Peters, safety Rashaad Reid, linebacker Steven Sylvester and defensive tackle Logan Walls – Pauline doesn’t expect any to be drafted. In his view, he gives Sylvester the best chance of signing as an undrafted free agent, followed by Jones, Peeples and Peters.
Thanks for reading.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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76 comments Add your comment
FL Jacket
April 24th, 2012
3:36 pm
juvenal…Guy Ritchie I’m sure will be rooting for “Ze Germans”
George Stein
April 24th, 2012
3:41 pm
I gotta be honest, juvenal. I’ve thought about retiring from the blogs. The trolls have made an intelligent discussion almost impossible to have.
juvenal
April 24th, 2012
3:53 pm
George, put your right hand over the middle of the screen-now only look at the posts of people you want to have an intelligent conversation with……..
FL Jacket
April 24th, 2012
3:54 pm
GS…what other Tech blogs have you been to? I go on From the Rumble Seat quite a bit and I enjoy it…although I would hate to rob Ken of well-deserved page hits.
BLT
April 24th, 2012
3:56 pm
Terence Mathis taught me how to tie my shoes. No small feat for Terence because I’m a Toadie. LOL
George Stein
April 24th, 2012
3:59 pm
This is the only one I frequent, FLJ.
Things is, juvenal, that I’m fine with critics. I want to hear what they have to say. But people who troll (think dawgfan, WnE, etc) should be banned immediately.
5150 UOAD
April 24th, 2012
4:02 pm
George I like to jerk the SEC and UGa fans chain every so often.
George Stein
April 24th, 2012
4:05 pm
I have no interest in doing things specifically to get a reaction out of people, 5150.
FL Jacket
April 24th, 2012
4:08 pm
Terrance Mathis taught me Calculus II…
5150 UOAD
April 24th, 2012
4:16 pm
Out Headed to the TED for the GT v UGa game.
FL Jacket
April 24th, 2012
4:18 pm
THWG 5150!
BG
April 24th, 2012
4:36 pm
Hill has alot to prove.
JM
April 24th, 2012
5:05 pm
Good luck to all. If they make the NFL great. If not they’ll have plenty of options after they graduate.
IndyGT
April 24th, 2012
6:39 pm
Great to see more jackets in the NFL!! I’ll be sticking it to my UGA buddies that our receivers are better known than UGA’s in the league.
@FL Jacket – how bout the blues? NOBODY would have said they move on after that moron JT lost his mind. Negative football – 1, the beautiful game – 0
FL Jacket
April 24th, 2012
11:53 pm
Indy…probably one of the best team efforts I’ve ever seen out of Chelsea. Tense and riveting game throughout. I think Chelsea will be missing 3 players in the Final because of yellow cards.
John Terry is an idiot. What he did wasn’t anywhere close to Zizou bad…but not all that far off either. He was the MNT captain for God sakes!
Birmingham Jacket
April 25th, 2012
8:24 am
Those West Coast guys obviously didn’t watch many Georgia Tech games.
HighTech
April 25th, 2012
8:42 am
Georgia Tech’s Offense prepared Stephen Hill for the NFL….
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-falcons-blog/2012/04/15/nfl-draft-stephen-hill-prepared-for-pros/
FL Jacket
April 25th, 2012
9:00 am
“Those West Coast guys obviously didn’t watch many Georgia Tech games.”
No Birmingham…he only worked out for them in person…
yeller bug
April 25th, 2012
9:18 am
Question to the elite bloggers here: Do you think GT effectively utilized S. Hill last year? Yes, 29.3 YPC is impressive, but that’s because of a couple of break away runs. He didn’t have that many total catches. Did he just bloom real late or actually never bloom on the field—just demonstrated the raw talent in the combine with his speed, leaping ability, etc. Should there have been more wide receiver screens, tunnel screens or other plays to get him the ball as a playmaker or due to his somewhat inconsidetent catching performance, did it work better to have him as a decoy or downfield blocker? We’ve had 2 WR go pro and probably drafted in the first round (3 counting Calvin) and all of them left their JR year. Does that mean we’re doing things really right or really wrong?
FL Jacket
April 25th, 2012
9:24 am
Yeller…
Do we win anymore games from dropping back to pass 5-10 extra times with Tevin Washington?
yeller bug
April 25th, 2012
10:34 am
Valid point FLJ, but I think our passing plays are too complex for the skills at QB that we have. Quick screens, quick outs and passes to stationary targets vice crossing routes would help get our pass completion % up. Although the YPC would drop, that’s OK as long as we’re moving the chains. We typically get one-on-one coverage on our WRs and often the CB is 8 or 10 yds back. We’ve had success with the big pass play but when we have a big receiver like DT and SH, I think we should get him the ball more on short passes and see if he can break one. It also will pull the CB closer and if you have a 6′ 5″ WR with 4.35 speed then you can go downtown with the big play. Of course you need an OL that can sustain a block for 3.5 seconds and a QB that can pass the ball within a catable distance of the receiver.
yeller bug
April 25th, 2012
10:35 am
catchable
RJ
April 25th, 2012
11:05 am
I wish Hill the best. Don’t understand why anyone considers him first round material, but hey, that’s the weird scouting of the NFL for you.
Hopefully next year we don’t have a #1 receiver that we actively hope doesn’t drop ANOTHER ball.
Jacket Man
April 25th, 2012
7:41 pm
Mike Mayock, of the NFL Network, just released his one and only Mock Draft, and has Stephen going #20 to Tennessee?
“Hill is so good he might catch 30 balls and six will go for touchdowns”.
Stephen is also Mayock’s third WR off the board…
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2012/mock-dr…HP11_hot_topics
Jacket Man
April 25th, 2012
7:50 pm
Not sure why the other link didn’t work:
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2012/mock-drafts/mike-mayock/150251?module=HP11_cp
BIrmingham Jacket
April 26th, 2012
7:33 am
He’s big.
He’s strong.
He’s super-fast.
And he can’t catch!!!
Good luck with that.