Hill is still trying

Skeptic

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GTonTop88 said:
I said when he was shooting up the draft boards, "I hope he shows out, but I think whoever drafts him is gonna be sadly disappointed", and his flaws get blamed on the offense he played in college "he's raw coming out of GT and the triple option."

Pretty much all big fast receivers are raw coming out of college because they don't really need superb route running ability. Hills problem was that he couldn't catch, but you can't coach size and speed and he does have that. He could be good with a lot of work on his hands, maybe he has done that.
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It ain't his hands.
 

danny daniel

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GTonTop88 said:
I said when he was shooting up the draft boards, "I hope he shows out, but I think whoever drafts him is gonna be sadly disappointed", and his flaws get blamed on the offense he played in college "he's raw coming out of GT and the triple option."

Pretty much all big fast receivers are raw coming out of college because they don't really need superb route running ability. Hills problem was that he couldn't catch, but you can't coach size and speed and he does have that. He could be good with a lot of work on his hands, maybe he has done that.
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It may well be his hands or his concentration on the ball, but I have seen an uneasiness with him seeming to not being comfortable hitting the ground. After he leaves his feet he sometimes seems to start reaching for the ground with that free hand and doesn't seem to like the landing. I saw him get better at GT in this regard, but I believe sometimes his concentration is about hitting the ground and not 100% focused on the catch...just an observation.
 
Northeast Stinger

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danny daniel said:
It may well be his hands or his concentration on the ball, but I have seen an uneasiness with him seeming to not being comfortable hitting the ground. After he leaves his feet he sometimes seems to start reaching for the ground with that free hand and doesn't seem to like the landing. I saw him get better at GT in this regard, but I believe sometimes his concentration is about hitting the ground and not 100% focused on the catch...just an observation.
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Had not noticed that. If so that adds another problem to the already obvious problem of dropping an easy pass when he is wide open.
 

Skeptic

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danny daniel said:
It may well be his hands or his concentration on the ball, but I have seen an uneasiness with him seeming to not being comfortable hitting the ground. After he leaves his feet he sometimes seems to start reaching for the ground with that free hand and doesn't seem to like the landing. I saw him get better at GT in this regard, but I believe sometimes his concentration is about hitting the ground and not 100% focused on the catch...just an observation.
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Don't know about that. The problems I've seen have come in wide open, defender in the next area code, run to glory written all over it ... and he drops it. He made some miraculous catches at GT, from one-handed leaping on the sideline to stretching out deep and bouncing with the catch. So I'm not sure where you saw that.
 
Northeast Stinger

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Skeptic said:
He will always be one of the great enigmas out of GT.
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That is a good way to put it. Phenomenal speed, flashes of brilliance, inexplicable losses of concentration at key moments, slow to mature at Tech and then seemingly hitting his stride only to bolt for the NFL on a wing and a prayer, suddenly exploding with phenomenal numbers at the combine, great press with lots of promise, and then crashing over and over and over again.

Hope he gets his life put together.
 
buzz_wiser©

buzz_wiser©

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would things had been better for him had he not bolted for the "Not For Long" after his jr season? I think his senior year would've shown some maturity heading into the draft. But, sometimes its hard to say how things could've panned out
 

Skeptic

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mmbt0ne said:
He was drafted #43 and made over $3M before his 25th birthday.

We should all crash so hard.
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You are right of course, and the cash is a big deal, if he still has it -- that is not meant to be smarmy but to acknowledge the reality of so many of those draft picks. Often bankrupt within three years of leaving the league, but to fly so high, from a decidedly mixed college career to a stunning combine performance in which the guy who could not be counted on to catch gimmes in college, didn't have a drop, and to his very first NFL game with two TD catches. Then traveling the circuit and on taxi squads within three years, and now probably out forever. He would not be human if he didn't have great regrets his whole life. That is the real crash. And as we working stiffs know whatever he had left of the signing bonuses and salaries after taxes, not to mention his Mercedes, will not go very far. He needs to get back in school, if not GT, somewhere, and get that degree. In conservative estimates it is said a college graduate will earn more than $850,000 more than a non-degreed employee in a 40-year work span. He can crash but he doesn't have to burn.
 
jwsavhGT

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@Skeptic, I'm with you in hoping that he will come back & get his degree. To me it is an obvious choice since GT has a program in place to help former players complete their education. Hill's story is a life-lesson that all college athletes need to take note of and consider before making that decision to leave school and declare for any draft. The reality of life as a professional athlete without a backup plan is sad.
 

Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau

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Northeast Stinger said:
That is a good way to put it. Phenomenal speed, flashes of brilliance, inexplicable losses of concentration at key moments, slow to mature at Tech and then seemingly hitting his stride only to bolt for the NFL on a wing and a prayer, suddenly exploding with phenomenal numbers at the combine, great press with lots of promise, and then crashing over and over and over again.

Hope he gets his life put together.
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He might be a good graduate assistant to help mentor our young receivers.
 
awbuzz

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Hope he's able to "get it together" and make the best out the situation...
Proof that you have to prepare for bad times.
 

Skeptic

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Northeast Stinger said:
He has trouble catching passes in space. The space between his ears.
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This is true. A question about this for anybody who knows. He was hurt, and then cut. Are the Panthers responsible not just for his medical treatment, but for the lengthy rehab afterward? My guess is yes but I've never seen anything about it.
 
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