It Is What It Is
NEED TO KNOW
Follow WEEI.com football writer Christopher Price at twitter.com/cpriceNFL. In addition, get the latest WEEI.com updates at twitter.com/WEEI.
A WEEI.com Patriots Blog
WEEI.com Blog Network
NFL Draft’s Potential Patriots: Georgia Tech WR Stephen Hill 03.08.12 at 3:58 pm ET
By

WEEI.com will continue to offer daily insight and analysis regarding options that may be available to the Patriots when it comes to the 2012 NFL draft. Here is one is a series of profiles of players who could be on the board when it’s time for the Patriots to make a selection.

Stephen Hill is the latest highly regarded receiver to come out of Georgia Tech. (AP)

STEPHEN HILL

Position: Wide receiver

School: Georgia Tech

Height: 6-foot-5

Weight: 206 pounds

Achievements: Led FBS in yards per catch (29.3).

What he brings: He’s tall. He’s fast. He can jump. He can grab the ball at its highest point. Stephen Hill represents the sort of high-ceiling deep threat that many Patriots fans have been clamoring for since the departure of Randy Moss. While Hill does have elite physical talents as a downfield threat, he remains a raw talent in other facets of the position.

In 2011, Hill only caught 28 passes in 13 games. Hill, however, made those two-plus catches per game count, racking up 820 yards, giving him an insane 29.3 yards per catch. While his vertical skills are remarkable, Hill’s underneath skills and hands have been brought into question

Where the Patriots could get him: First or second round

Notes: Hill is the third mammoth downfield threat from Georgia Tech in that past few years, following in the footsteps of Calvin Johnson and Demaryius Thomas. Hill, though, presents the rawest talent of the three as an NFL prospect and, by many draft experts’ accounts, would have greatly benefited from staying for his senior season.

Coming from Georgia Tech’s triple-option-based offense, Hill served a limited role as a deep passing threat to complement the running game. By that same token, Hill has talked on record about enjoying his role as a blocker in the run game and would fit the role of occasionally used deep threat in the Patriots offense if they decide to use a later pick on him.

Recent articles:

IMG Performance Institute Blog: Getting to know… Georgia Tech WR Stephen Hill

NationalFootballPost.com: Is Georgia Tech WR Stephen Hill the best big play threat in the draft?

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Stephen Hill draft projection

Video: Here’s Hill’s acrobatic one-handed catch against North Carolina.

Read More: 2012 NFL Draft, 2012 Potential Patriots, Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech Print  |  Bark It Up!  |  Digg It
  • mikepatriot

    Holy shite, this is a wide out i could get excited about, a young Randy Moss. Draft him, groom him. Brady will bring him along and bring the very best out of him for the semi-deep passes. I think Brady’s accuracy and ability to throw the deep ball has picked up and gone, but this guy conceivably could catch it somewhat downfield and his speed  could produce some a big gainers. Keep Branch around in some capacity to work on his ball handling skills. Hopefully, just maybe, this guy could turn into the real deal and not a bust like BJ who never met a football he wanted to hold onto. Few things in football are more exciting than watching the tall ones go downfield and playing jumpball and we got victimized all season by alot of tall opposing guys against our smaller corners. Gonna really be 5 years since we had anything like that magnificent 07 year when Moss just fought for the ball up high and nearly always pulled it down. I wanna see this again, AFTER the corner situation has been secured, because that aspect of defense is too big a deficit on this team.

  • RobDX

     I have never seen moss go up high. ON top of that, Moss never went over the middle. But you can no COMPARE Hills talents to Moss’s. Moss talent wise is even better than Jerry Rice, notice I said talent wise

  • mikepatriot

    Were you wearing 3d glasses or prescription glasses during 07? Moss’s reach alone and a jump here and there was evident. That was his premier year for us, Everything with Cassel or Brady later was weak and shabby compared to that year imho. I will concede you’re right about Moss not wanting to go over the middle. He doesn’t want to get hit by the big guys. His block or bump on the line was also pathetic, the guy is a tall skinny swan who didn’t want to get crushed. As a straight sideline guy for that one year, there was none better. The guy set a freakin record and part of that success that year he was pulling balls down and away from coverage. 

  • PVS53

    If he is available in the second round then the Pats should consider a receiver like Hill. The first round picks MUST address the short comings on defense. Pats will still have a top three offense if they did not draft a WR but the defense MUST improve greatly from the 31st position. I love offense but the defense is what made me scream when I watch the Pats play. Defense first then tweek the offense.

Latest on Twitter

2013 PATRIOTS DRAFT PICKS

2013 NFL DRAFT

Patriots Headlines
NFL Headlines
Tips & Feedback

Verify