NFL Combine 2012: Stephen Hill Shooting Up Draft Boards After Stellar Display

If you don't know who Stephen Hill is, it's about time to get familiar with this future NFL star.

Hill put on a stunning display of speed and athleticism at the 2012 NFL Scouting Combine, posting times of 4.3 and 4.31 in the 40-yard dash—both bests in Indianapolis.

That performance served to uphold the now-long-running tradition of Georgie Tech turning out tremendously talented wide receiver prospect, with a lineage highlighted by Calvin Johnson and Demaryius Thomas.

Not that Hill, at 6'4" and 206 pounds, is necessarily on par with either of those two, though it's not all that difficult to imagine him shooting up big boards around the league between now and, say, Day 1 of the 2012 NFL draft. After all, it's not every day that noted draft guru Mike Mayock so willingly showers a player with praise like this:

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“Stephen Hill killed it. I had a bunch of scouts tell me before the combine this kid might blow the roof off of it and he did."

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So how is it that a talent like Hill has flown so far under the radar thus far? Simple—it's the offense. Again, leave it to Mayock to set the record straight:

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The tough thing with Stephen Hill is coming out of that option offense, he’s hard to evaluate…From a football perspective, every team in the league has a lot of homework to do. He’s a hard guy to figure out, just like Demaryius Thomas was because you don’t see real routes; all you see are verticals, crosses and play-action and jump balls. You have to do your homework on this kid and he’s kind of pushed himself right up in the forefront of this wide receivers class.”

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Indeed he has, even though he amassed just 49 catches for 1,248 yards and nine touchdowns during his three years as a Yellow Jacket. The fact that one day at Lucas Oil Stadium was enough to turn that around should tell you just how well-kept a secret Stephen Hill was.

And what draft-day treasure he may well turn out to be.

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