Tech’s Hill slips out of first round
Former Georgia Tech wide receiver Stephen Hill slipped out of the first round of the NFL draft Thursday night. Many draft projections pegged Hill, who left Tech after his junior season, to go to San Francisco at the No. 30 spot. The 49ers did take a wide receiver, but it was Illinois’ A.J. Jenkins, projected as an early second-round choice. Overall, four wide receivers were taken in the first round – Oklahoma State’s Justin Blackmon to Jacksonville at No. 5, Notre Dame’s Michael Floyd to St. Louis Arizona at No. 13, Baylor’s Kendall Wright to Tennessee at No. 20 and Jenkins.
Hill, invited to New York for the draft, will likely go early in the second round, which begins at 7 p.m. Friday. The first 10 picks of the second round – St. Louis, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Denver, Cleveland, Jacksonville, St. Louis, Carolina, Buffalo and Miami. Hill visited with the Ravens prior to the draft. (He also reportedly visited with the New York Jets, Philadelphia, Tennessee and Minnesota.) With the exception of Jacksonville, which took Blackmon in the first round, the other nine teams have a need at wide receiver to one degree or another and could select Hill. Another team could also trade up to take Hill.
A few intriguing landing spots are Indianapolis, where Hill could pair with first overall pick Andrew Luck; Denver, where he could line up opposite former Jackets star Demaryius Thomas and catch passes from Peyton Manning; Carolina, where he could become the go-to guy of Cam Newton, another Atlanta product; and Buffalo, where he would be coached by former Tech coach Chan Gailey and be a teammate of his former quarterback, Bills safety Joshua Nesbitt.
An interesting post script to the Jenkins pick. My thanks to a Twitter follower who noted that Gailey recruited Jenkins out of Jacksonville, Fla., and received a commitment from him in the summer of 2007, but he de-committed in the fall. (confirmed on Jenkins” Rivals page) Interesting to think what might have happened if he’d kept his commitment and then maintained it after the coaching change. The other great part about Jenkins’ page? He was the No. 53 wide receiver in the country that year. (Floyd was No. 6 and Blackmon was No. 91. Wright was the No. 64 “athlete.” Julio Jones and A.J. Green were Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. In 2009, Hill was No. 99.)
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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346 comments Add your comment
juvenal
April 27th, 2012
10:23 am
this stuff gets so lame, after 0900 i’m starting to miss mika…….
BigTimeTechFan
April 27th, 2012
10:25 am
@WnE
Look at all the offense that throw the ball over 20 times a game?
how many score more than GT?
GTBob
April 27th, 2012
10:27 am
He’s got Julio Jones/AJ Green type measurables, but since he played in CPJ’s crappy Offense, he gets drafted much later than those 32 guys did (4th & 6th overall).
Lets see. Julio Jones was the number 1 receiver in the country out of high school, AJ Green was the number 2 receiver in the country out of high school, Stephen Hill was the number 99 receiver out of high school. Yeah, he was just like Julio and AJ Green. You nailed it.
atlxman
April 27th, 2012
10:32 am
hill dropped maybe 6 passes all year and i have never stated he wouldnt get drafted. infact a receiver with his talent should have been drafted higher.thats my point…the only fault hill made was choosing to play at tech as a wide receiver. and there is a big difference in money from a top 15 pick to a 3rd to mid 2nd round pick…uoad can look it up for you..
atlxman
April 27th, 2012
10:35 am
gt bob..it was stated he had their mesurables… meaning if he was playing in a offense that actually used them he would be a top 15 pick….
George Stein
April 27th, 2012
10:36 am
C’mon, atlxman. How ’bout that deal. If Hill gets picked in the second round, you don’t post here ever again. Whaddya say?
WnE
April 27th, 2012
10:36 am
re:
GTBob
April 27th, 2012
10:27 am
He’s got Julio Jones/AJ Green type measurables, but since he played in CPJ’s crappy Offense, he gets drafted much later than those 32 guys did (4th & 6th overall).
Lets see. Julio Jones was the number 1 receiver in the country out of high school, AJ Green was the number 2 receiver in the country out of high school, Stephen Hill was the number 99 receiver out of high school. Yeah, he was just like Julio and AJ Green. You nailed it.
_________________
Hold on!
I thought those guys that did the recruiting rankings didn’t know anything about identifying TALENT, now when it fits YOUR AGENDA, you refer to their rankings as if they are the Gospel!
You’re going BACK to where they were coming out of HS, there is growth and development that occurs during college.
Hill developed enough to have Randy Moss type measurables, but he caught the bad break of trusting his College career to CPJ!
Had he developed like that under CMR or under coach Mike Gundy at Okie St. then he would have been a high 1st round draft choice.
No matter which way you CPJ apologists try to spin it, CPJ has lost S. Hill a lot of money, upcoming Recruits will see things “my way” more so that seeing things your way.
GTBob
April 27th, 2012
10:37 am
hill dropped maybe 6 passes all year and i have never stated he wouldnt get drafted
Even if it was only 6 you think dropping 23% of the passes to you, probably half of which were sure touchdowns is not something that would hurt you in the draft?
George Stein
April 27th, 2012
10:38 am
“Hold on!
I thought those guys that did the recruiting rankings didn’t know anything about identifying TALENT, now when it fits YOUR AGENDA, you refer to their rankings as if they are the Gospel!”
Actually, GTBob doesn’t do that at all. His opinion generally has been that we never get the best recruits. I’d say he’s been pretty consistent on that.
George Stein
April 27th, 2012
10:39 am
“Had he developed like that under CMR or under coach Mike Gundy at Okie St. then he would have been a high 1st round draft choice.”
According to you, he would have been the 8th best receiver at UGA. How would that have helped him?
WnE
April 27th, 2012
10:41 am
re:
GTBob
April 27th, 2012
10:37 am
hill dropped maybe 6 passes all year and i have never stated he wouldnt get drafted
Even if it was only 6 you think dropping 23% of the passes to you, probably half of which were sure touchdowns is not something that would hurt you in the draft?
______________
You still don’t get IT!
6 dropped passes should NOT be 23% of the passes that are thrown at you when you are Hill’s size & speed!
Blackmon caught over 100 balls each of the last 2 years, he’s slower & smaller than is Hill, it is obvious that the System you play in makes a huge difference to the NFL GMs!
Start being un-biased FB fans and not CPJ apologists!
atlxman
April 27th, 2012
10:41 am
ted dibiase..also factor in that hill has a converted cornerback or running back trying to throw him the ball…if hill had a true throwing qb passing to him he wouldnt be sitting home right now waiting see where he is going in the 2nd or 3rd round …just compare that jenkins guy who decided to not come to tech but instesd go to illinois and play in more pro style offense.. he was drafted in the first round after being picked by many to go in the 2nd round. he is smaller and not as fast as hill yet he is about to be a millionair…
George Stein
April 27th, 2012
10:42 am
“Start being un-biased FB fans and not CPJ apologists!”
This is precious.
GTBob
April 27th, 2012
10:42 am
gt bob..it was stated he had their mesurables… meaning if he was playing in a offense that actually used them he would be a top 15 pick
So every player coming out of college that is tall and fast should go in the top 15 of the NFL draft?
FL Jacket
April 27th, 2012
10:43 am
“if hill had a true throwing qb passing to him he wouldnt be sitting home right now waiting see where he is going in the 2nd or 3rd round”
atlxman…
This obviously hurt Calvin Johnson as well didn’t it…
GTBob
April 27th, 2012
10:44 am
it is obvious that the System you play in makes a huge difference to the NFL GMs!
Hill will be the third CPJ wide receiver to play in the NFL. I don’t think the system is hurting them too much.
GTfan 2012
April 27th, 2012
10:45 am
WnE is pathetic. Stephen Hill is a great talent and has freakish athletic ability. I think he was a great Yellow Jacket and contributed significantly to our football team. But he is not this can’t miss prospect that WnE claims (today anyway, back in December he was claiming Stephen Hill was a bust). WnE, did you know that Stephen Hill actually had one of the slowest short shuttle times for a WR at the combine (in fact it was slower than most of the TEs)? Of course you didn’t, because that doesn’t fit your anti-CPJ narrative. Stephen Hill, by his own admission, said he really needed to work on getting out of his breaks.
Big Crimson 75
April 27th, 2012
10:45 am
WnE — Would Hill have been drafted had He been @ Bama??
I don’t think Hill’s #s would have been much different @ Bama.
Bama is a run first Offense, much like GT’s.
Obviously, just b/c you wear the Crimson is no guarantee of anything — ask Courtney Upshaw!!
Rueben Randle, whom I think is very similar to Hill went un-drafted also.
To answer your question — No.
GTBob
April 27th, 2012
10:46 am
I thought those guys that did the recruiting rankings didn’t know anything about identifying TALENT, now when it fits YOUR AGENDA, you refer to their rankings as if they are the Gospel!
They don’t in general. There is a pretty big difference between #1, #2, and #99 though. The fact that UGA fans like you think that CPJ ruined Stephen hill because he went from a somewhat talented high school player to a high NFL draft pick is pretty humorous.
FL Jacket
April 27th, 2012
10:46 am
“just compare that jenkins guy who decided to not come to tech but instesd go to illinois and play in more pro style offense.. ”
atlxman…
Furthermore, Illinois doesn’t run a pro-style (as if you actually know what that means) offense, and neither did Baylor.
Big Crimson 75
April 27th, 2012
10:47 am
* un-drafted in the 1st Round, I mean.
atlxman
April 27th, 2012
10:48 am
guys need to listen to wne more often…he knows his stuff. the up coming recruits are seeing this hence all the div 1aa players that pj is having to fill tech roster with….when all the up an coming runnng backs saw what happen to dwyer and allen, they chose not to come to tech. the qb position is the same after they saw that a highly rated qb out of high school run his high school offense almost perfect go undrafted and now having to play safety on some practice squad. reall ysad but pj doesnt care at all.
FL Jacket
April 27th, 2012
10:48 am
“Rueben Randle, whom I think is very similar to Hill went un-drafted also.
To answer your question — No”
BC75…
Thank for bringing up Reuben Randle. I’m sure WnE is bashing Les Miles just as bad, if not worse, than CPJ for taking the #1 WR in the 2009 recruiting class and couldn’t turn him into a 1st round pick.
Where’s the outrage on that one WnE??
GTBob
April 27th, 2012
10:49 am
What ive learned on the blogs recently:
Every player that is on GT’s team would have been a first round draft pick if CPJ had not been the coach. At least by this silly logic you can’t argue that he isn’t recruiting well.
George Stein
April 27th, 2012
10:49 am
If Hill would have been the 8th best WR at UGA, he’d have been like 30th best WR at Bama.
FL Jacket
April 27th, 2012
10:51 am
“the qb position is the same after they saw that a highly rated qb out of high school run his high school offense almost perfect go undrafted and now having to play safety on some practice squad. reall ysad but pj doesnt care at all.”
atlxman…
Yup, 4-star QBs Vad Lee and Justin Thomas were scared off these past 2 recruiting years…
GTVegas
April 27th, 2012
10:52 am
wNe, Whinnie, Weenie has one agenda and that is anything to disparage CPJ. It does not matter what the intended blog subject may be. He will twist it to his position and spin it like an MSN reporter.
There is no sense in wasting your time reading his inane comments, let alone responding to them.
He is like the guy I saw after the GT/UGA guy standing outside the Marta station by GT telling everyone that CPJ must go. I told him that I did not ask for, nor did I care about his opinions and “you know what everyone says about opinions…”
FL Jacket
April 27th, 2012
10:52 am
“If Hill would have been the 8th best WR at UGA, he’d have been like 30th best WR at Bama.”
Or the 300th best WR at Florida…if head-to-head records against uGA drive the quality of players and programs haha
atlxman
April 27th, 2012
10:53 am
i didnt say they ran a pro style,,they run more of a pro style offense. power I as well.. uga runs a pro style offense ..either way they dont run that high school gimmick and career killer offense that tech runs
George Stein
April 27th, 2012
10:53 am
“the qb position ”
I have to say that is one of the most annoying things people say. You don’t have to say “the QB position.” I know it’s a position. Just say QB!
George Stein
April 27th, 2012
10:54 am
“uga runs a pro style offense”
No, they don’t.
GTBob
April 27th, 2012
10:56 am
uga runs a pro style offense ..either way they dont run that high school gimmick and career killer offense that tech runs
Yep, they run the pro style, recruit the best receivers in the country, and yet CMR has only had one get drafted in the first round. Once again, when do you expect Marlon Brown to get drafted today?
FL Jacket
April 27th, 2012
10:57 am
“i didnt say they ran a pro style,,they run more of a pro style offense. power I as well.. uga runs a pro style offense ..either way they dont run that high school gimmick and career killer offense that tech runs”
atlxman…
Wrong again. Illinois QB Nathan Scheelhaase was their leading passer AND rusher…sounds like an option offense to me.
Beau Bock
April 27th, 2012
10:58 am
Why would anyone expect a Ga. Tech receiver to get drafted. In that High School offense what good is a receiver. I didn’t know they still had receivers.
George Stein
April 27th, 2012
11:00 am
“Why would anyone expect a Ga. Tech receiver to get drafted. In that High School offense what good is a receiver. I didn’t know they still had receivers”
If you didn’t know, then you’re poorly informed, which makes the balance of your comment useless.
atlxman
April 27th, 2012
11:01 am
gt vegas..i actually want PJ to get an extension,,i would just tell any friend i have that has any chance of going pro, to go play for another school that prepares them for pros better
Supersize that order, mutt
April 27th, 2012
11:04 am
@ Ted DiBiase, if you do indeed know WnE’s real identity, PLEASE tell someone who can get him off these blogs and out of the lives of young men striving to make a life for themselves. IMHO he SHOULD have been arrested for stalking Vad Lee the way he did. I would imagine if Vad or his father had wanted to, they could have done something 2 years ago in the way of a restraining order to shut him up. That they didn’t speaks very highly of them in exercising restraint and, as far as we know, just ignoring WnE’s “RESPECTFUL” rantings. The idea that WnE would even write a sentence with his name and the word “respectful” in it is ludicrous. I’m sure it s also “respectful” to make up stupid names for a football coach. The man, and I use that term lightly, is an embarrassment to himself, his family, his school (assuming he did attend Tech), and to sports fans everywhere.
George Stein
April 27th, 2012
11:06 am
“gt vegas..i actually want PJ to get an extension,,i would just tell any friend i have that has any chance of going pro, to go play for another school that prepares them for pros better”
I’m certain you have tons of friends that are NFL prospects.
atlxman
April 27th, 2012
11:06 am
illinoi runs a power I and some spread,,,check out the pass attempts vs the rushing attempts and then compare to washingtons ..illinois ran something like fla did when tebow was there…
GTfan 2012
April 27th, 2012
11:07 am
atlxman,
So you think recruits see two RB from GT playing in the NFL and they are scared away from GT? So then what do they think Caleb King and Washaun Ealy say about UGA?
atlxman
April 27th, 2012
11:08 am
sure do…and they have firends and they have friends…and so on and so on…and believe me they see whats going on at tech and are not even sniffing ga tech
GT Lee
April 27th, 2012
11:10 am
“and are not even sniffing ga tech”
what the hell are you sniffing…..glue???
George Stein
April 27th, 2012
11:10 am
“sure do…and they have firends and they have friends…and so on and so on…and believe me they see whats going on at tech and are not even sniffing ga tech”
I’m sure that’s true, atlxman. How about that deal?
atlxman
April 27th, 2012
11:11 am
they see 2 ga tech running backs get drafted in the 6th and 7th rounds when at worse should have been 3rd round picks with there size and build, they see money flushed down the drain. caleb and ealy would have been just fine if they stuck around and follwed coach richt advice and instructions..thats on them unlike whats going on at tech
GTBob
April 27th, 2012
11:13 am
and believe me they see whats going on at tech and are not even sniffing ga tech
Good for them. They can keep watching GT receivers get drafted high while they are sitting on the bench at UGA.
Big Crimson 75
April 27th, 2012
11:13 am
The first Round busts of the 2012 NFL Draft :
- Justin Blackman — when will people realize Defense is only optional in the Big 12??
the guy is not as good as Dez Bryant.
- Ryan Tannehill — see comment above
- Bruce Irvin — Who??
- Brandon Weedan — this guy is proof the draft “experts” are morons!! Congratulation Cleveland, you just drafted Chris Weinke lite!!
- Nick Perry — over-rated
- AJ Jenkins — Randle, Hill, Alshon & the little guy from Fla- International were better options.
atlxman
April 27th, 2012
11:13 am
who does tech have coming in that is anywhere near the talent of dwyer and allen to run the ball? all they have coming in are converted corners and qbs who should have been playing at elon or ga southern.
George Stein
April 27th, 2012
11:16 am
Mark Richt- recruited RBs have totaled 2,353 yards in the NFL. Of those, 1,905 came from Knowshon Moreno. It ain’t like playing at UGA is doing much for the RBs there the past 11 years.
juvenal
April 27th, 2012
11:18 am
watch the sunday night game, where they give their alma maters-note how many give their HIGH SCHOOLS, they played semi-pro a couple of years-note how many give small schools-the nfl will find you, & give you a chance…….
GTfan 2012
April 27th, 2012
11:20 am
atlxman,
Your statements are way too simplistic. I actually agree, if you are a top rated passing QB, GT is probably not a good fit. But then we weren’t getting that QB under ANY prior coaches either, so the point is kind of moot. If you are a top rated WR and expect to catch 100 balls a season, GT is probably not a good fit. But, if you are a top rated dual threat QB, you have to consider GT (and many have over the past couple years). If you are a big physical WR who perhaps doesn’t have blazing top end speed, GT may be a good fit because you are going to get a lot of one-on-one coverage to showcase your skills. If you are a big physical RB that doesn’t have blazing top end speed, GT might be the perfect place to showcase your talents and get lots of carries. If you are a smaller slot WR/RB with good running and receiving skills, GT is one of the few places where you can showcase both skills with the opportunity to run with the ball in the open field and catch the ball downfield. A-back is the one place where I think getting one game-changer could make all the difference in recruiting. I mean we might be sending a 2-star A-back recruit to the NFL next year in Orwin Smith.