Stephen Hill Combine: Standout Results Make Georgia Tech Product a 1st-Rounder

When you don’t play for a great college team, the NFL combine is the best way to make a name for yourself.

Georgia Tech wide receiver Stephen Hill did as much over the weekend.

He posted a 4.3 and a 4.31 30-yard dash, which were the best numbers among receivers. His 9 3/8’’ arm length is top five at the position to go with his impressive 6’4’’, 206-pound frame.

After catching a mere 28 passes for 820 yards and five TDs in 2011, he didn’t exactly finish college looking like the second coming of Jerry Rice.

The Yellow Jackets may not be known for their football team, but the recent success G-Tech receivers have had in the NFL should not be ignored. Both Calvin Johnson and Demaryius Thomas are former Yellow Jackets and both of them had standout 2011 seasons.

In Thomas’ case, he wowed the scouts with an incredible 40 to end up getting drafted 25th  overall by the Denver Broncos. Sound familiar?

The option offense run at Georgia Tech makes it hard to evaluate receivers from the program, thus the combine and Pro Day are huge for Hill according to NFL Network draft guru Mike Mayock:

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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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Hill did what he needed to do and is now a worthy first-round pick. The Baltimore Ravens at No. 29 or the San Francisco 49ers at No. 30 would be perfect.  

We all know Justin Blackmon will be a top 10 pick, and Michael Floyd solidified himself as the second-best receiver with his strong combine performance on top of a storied career at Notre Dame. After that, Hill will be competing against the likes of Kendall Wright and Alshon Jeffery.

Wright, who was supposed to have blazing speed, ran a poor 4.61 and likely knocked himself out of the first round. Jeffery didn’t compete at the combine and his bowl game ejection is still fresh in the minds of scouts.

That leaves Hill as the combine phenomena who is coming from a school with a strong receiver pedigree as of late. Expect to hear more and more about Hill as April’s draft continues to inch closer.