 |
| Khalid Hill |
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 252 lbs.
High school: Detroit (MI) East English Village
Position: Tight end
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #80
Last year: I ranked Hill #60 and said he would be a backup tight end. He started three games and made 4 catches for 37 yards.
Last year it appeared that Hill had made the move from an H-back type of player to a full-time tight end, but that turned out to be temporary based on some other personnel issues. When the season came around, he was playing H-back and lining up in various places off the line. He made some nice blocks in space, started three games when the packages called for an H-back, and made a few catches before tearing his ACL in the fifth game.
Hill seems like a good fit for the F-back position that the new staff is implementing. Unfortunately, he missed all of spring practice due to his ACL recovery. Depending on how that recovery goes, I think he is probably the best F-back prospect on the roster and should be the starter if and when he's healthy. He has soft hands, enough speed to gain chunks of yards in the flat, and can be a good blocker on linebackers, though he lacks the length, bulk, and technique to play on the line of scrimmage. My guess is that he will be starting by year's end unless someone else really takes a stranglehold on the position early.
Prediction: Starting F-back by end of season
Low for starter, even if only in limited packages. I view Williams and Hill as specialist starters, a la Kerridge at FB, Peppers or Hill at 5th DB, and Ross at OLB.
ReplyDeleteWhile I know Michigan has some other options and might be able to use fullbacks instead I think Hill proved his value last season. If nothing else I think he lets the coaching staff marginalize Williams' role a bit. I don't really his potential backups (Winovich, Bunting, etc) as being nearly as important.
He's a starter in limited packages coming off of a torn ACL. The injury lowers his value. It's the same reason I ranked Jake Ryan #24 in 2013 even though he clearly was a better player than the 24th-best.
DeleteGood point re: injury. I'm assuming he'll be back and healthy but that's a big assumption to make...
DeleteAJ Williams just shot up the Lank-ranks.
ACL injuries take at least a year, even Ryan when he came back was not the Ryan of before...far from it.
DeleteHill should be in better shape than Ryan and Butt were in terms of recovery, since Hill went down last October and the other two were injured in spring practice (but still played by mid-season). Assuming Hill's rehab has gone well, there is a chance he is in pretty good form by game #1.
DeleteGood analysis. Agree that Hill has the makings of a pretty good all-around player. After seeing such poor blocking from the position group the last several seasons, it threw me for a loop to observe Hill throwing a few nice ones early last year. Bummer about his leg injury. Hope he is fully cleared for camp.
ReplyDeleteI liked Hill as a recruit and thought he showed a ton of promise last season. This is one example where I thought the red-shirt was put to good use. I expect him to be the starting H-back for the next 3 years.
DeleteNow that you’re preparing to post the Countdown for the 2015 Michigan Football Top 40, will you be adding a song with each post, as a tribute to the late Casey Kasem?
ReplyDeleteFor example, if you started with 1976 and counted down to 2015, and if you looked back at the Billboard Hot 100 number one single as of July 21, 1976, you’d start with “Silly Love Songs” by Wings at number 40.
The rest of the musical countdown could be:
(39) July 23, 1977 - “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac; (38) July 24, 1978 - “Shadow Dancing” by Andy Gibb; (37) July 25, 1979 - “Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer; (36) July 26, 1980 - “Funkytown” by Lipps Inc.; (35) July 27, 1981 - “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes; (34) July 28, 1982 - “Ebony and Ivory” by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder; (33) July 29, 1983 - “Flashdance . . . What A Feeling” by Irene Cara; (32) July 30, 1984 - “When Doves Cry” by Prince; (31) July 31, 1985 - “Everytime You Go Away” by Paul Young; (30) August 1, 1986 - “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel; (29) August 2, 1987 - “Shakedown” by Bob Seger; (28) August 3, 1988 - “Roll With It” by Steve Winwood; (27) August 4, 1989 - “Toy Soldiers” by Martika; (26) August 5, 1990 - “Vision of Love” by Mariah Carey; (25) August 6, 1991 - “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” by Bryan Adams; (24) August 7, 1992 - “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-A-Lot; (23) August 8, 1993 - “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by UB40; (22) August 9, 1994 - “Stay (I Missed You)” by Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories; (21) August 10, 1995 - “Waterfalls” by TLC; (20) August 11, 1996 - “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)” by Los Del Rio;
(19) August 12, 1997 - “I’ll Be Missing You” by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112; (18) August 13, 1998 - “The Boy Is Mine” by Brandy and Monica; (17) August 14, 1999 - “Genie In A Bottle” by Christine Aguilera; (16) August 15, 2000 - “Incomplete” by Sisqo; (15) August 16, 2001 - Bootylicious” by Destiny’s Child; (14) August 17, 2002 - “Dilemma” by Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland; (13) August 18, 2003 - “Crazy in Love” by Beyonce featuring Jay-Z; (12) August 19, 2004 - “Slow Motion” by Juvenile featuring Soulja Slim; (11) August 20, 2005 - “We Belong Together” by Mariah Carey; (10) August 21, 2006 - “London Bridge” by Fergie; (9) August 22, 2007 - “Beautiful Girls” by Sean Kingston; (8) August 23, 2008 - “Disturbia” by Rihanna; (7) August 24, 2009 - “I Gotta Feeling” by The Black Eyed Peas; (6) August 25, 2010 - “Love The Way You Lie” by Eminem featuring Rihanna; (5) August 26, 2011 - “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock; (4) August 27, 2012 - “Whistle” by Flo Rida; (3) August 28, 2013 - “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell (can be played with “Got to Give It Up” by Marvin Gaye); (2) August 29, 2014 - “Rude” by Magic!; (1) August 30, 2015 - TO BE DETERMINED