Post by Reignman on Sept 4, 2018 18:06:10 GMT -6
"Zimmer type CB, 6'2 196, long, rangy, and fast"
He missed some tackles, but I thought he looked pretty solid in coverage and at run stopping. He definitely prefers to go for the feet when tackling, which is why I think he missed a few. He tends to dive at the feet too early sometimes. We probably won't see any lowering the head penalties against him. His return game looks pretty solid too. My only knock against him is he appears a little tentative on going for tackles that are in the middle of the field, which isn't really shown in the video because the video is more about the plays he actually was involved in.
He's also not a ball-hawker, which seems to be a Zimmer thing, and a pet peeve of mine lol. No defensive penalties against him the entire preseason. He was thrown at 14 times, allowed 9 catches, and made 14 tackles. He played the entire 2nd half in the first 3 games, and all 4 quarters in the 4th game.
I didn't keep track, but opposing QB's seemed to prefer throwing to the right side of the field throughout preseason, away from Hill. Maybe because they were all right handed and see that side of the field better, but getting thrown at only 14 times in 10 quarters doesn't seem like a whole lot. He played every defensive snap in those 10 quarters.
www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2018/09/meet-holton-hill-interesting-player-vikings-camp/
It's always strange to hear how a team was high on a guy, but never draft him, not even in the later rounds when they're taking camp bodies. That's taking a pretty big risk hoping he's going to go undrafted and that you'd win the bidding war. Reminds me of how Denny Green was so high on Randy Moss, but never traded up to get him and just hoped he'd fall to them at 21.
The off-field "trouble" that they're referring to ...
Really? 1st round talent goes undrafted because of pot? A drug that's legal in several states? Beat your wife, no problem, smoke a joint, radio active. I mean yeah, pretty dumb of him to do it just before the combine, and it's going to cost him millions, but he could be the steal of the draft for the Vikings.
He missed some tackles, but I thought he looked pretty solid in coverage and at run stopping. He definitely prefers to go for the feet when tackling, which is why I think he missed a few. He tends to dive at the feet too early sometimes. We probably won't see any lowering the head penalties against him. His return game looks pretty solid too. My only knock against him is he appears a little tentative on going for tackles that are in the middle of the field, which isn't really shown in the video because the video is more about the plays he actually was involved in.
He's also not a ball-hawker, which seems to be a Zimmer thing, and a pet peeve of mine lol. No defensive penalties against him the entire preseason. He was thrown at 14 times, allowed 9 catches, and made 14 tackles. He played the entire 2nd half in the first 3 games, and all 4 quarters in the 4th game.
I didn't keep track, but opposing QB's seemed to prefer throwing to the right side of the field throughout preseason, away from Hill. Maybe because they were all right handed and see that side of the field better, but getting thrown at only 14 times in 10 quarters doesn't seem like a whole lot. He played every defensive snap in those 10 quarters.
www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2018/09/meet-holton-hill-interesting-player-vikings-camp/
Hill was a member of the National Honor Society and had a 3.5 grade point average.
When the Minnesota Vikings signed Hill as the No. 1 ranked (by ESPN) undrafted free agent, head coach Mike Zimmer said the team had been interested in Hill throughout the draft process.
“We’ve spent a lot of time with him,” Zimmer said. “He was here on a Top 30, we met him in Indianapolis. He’s a good football player, big, fast, tough, good tackler. We’ve had a lot of conversations with him. We’re excited, he’s got a chance. If he comes in here and do what we ask him to do, he’s got a chance.”
“We’ve done our due diligence,” Zimmer added. “We’ve talked with every one of his coaches he has ever had in his entire life, I think. We’ve talked to a lot of people at the University of Texas and we feel comfortable with the situation. But, it’s about the opportunity and what he does with that opportunity is up to him.”
When the Minnesota Vikings signed Hill as the No. 1 ranked (by ESPN) undrafted free agent, head coach Mike Zimmer said the team had been interested in Hill throughout the draft process.
“We’ve spent a lot of time with him,” Zimmer said. “He was here on a Top 30, we met him in Indianapolis. He’s a good football player, big, fast, tough, good tackler. We’ve had a lot of conversations with him. We’re excited, he’s got a chance. If he comes in here and do what we ask him to do, he’s got a chance.”
“We’ve done our due diligence,” Zimmer added. “We’ve talked with every one of his coaches he has ever had in his entire life, I think. We’ve talked to a lot of people at the University of Texas and we feel comfortable with the situation. But, it’s about the opportunity and what he does with that opportunity is up to him.”
It's always strange to hear how a team was high on a guy, but never draft him, not even in the later rounds when they're taking camp bodies. That's taking a pretty big risk hoping he's going to go undrafted and that you'd win the bidding war. Reminds me of how Denny Green was so high on Randy Moss, but never traded up to get him and just hoped he'd fall to them at 21.
There are few organizations with the Vikings’ stability at head coach and with the level of established veteran leadership.
“I spoke with [Hil] about two weeks ago and he said he chose the Vikings for that very reason,” Reagins said. “He has a [college football] Hall of Famer as his position coach [Jerry Gray] that he took well upon. He wants to be coached by him. He gave the staff a lot of credit. That’s why he chose to go to Minnesota.”
“He loves coach Gray.”
“I spoke with [Hil] about two weeks ago and he said he chose the Vikings for that very reason,” Reagins said. “He has a [college football] Hall of Famer as his position coach [Jerry Gray] that he took well upon. He wants to be coached by him. He gave the staff a lot of credit. That’s why he chose to go to Minnesota.”
“He loves coach Gray.”
Each week he improved and in the Vikings’ final preseason game, when Hill needed to be at his best, he came through in the same way he did at Lamar, picking up a 53-yard kick return against the Tennessee Titans, making several key tackles and flashing explosiveness on a deflected pass. In four preseason games, he finished with 14 tackles with four run stuffs and allowed nine catches in 14 attempts his way, according to Pro Football Focus.
The off-field "trouble" that they're referring to ...
The lack of interest on draft day(s) wasn’t because of his on-field performance at Texas. As a junior last year, he picked off two passes, scored two touchdowns, defended six passes and picked up 51 tackles in nine games.
...
Hill was passed over because Texas head coach Tom Herman suspended him for a violation of team rules on November 7 and then Hill reportedly tested positive for marijuana at the NFL Combine.
...
Hill was passed over because Texas head coach Tom Herman suspended him for a violation of team rules on November 7 and then Hill reportedly tested positive for marijuana at the NFL Combine.
Really? 1st round talent goes undrafted because of pot? A drug that's legal in several states? Beat your wife, no problem, smoke a joint, radio active. I mean yeah, pretty dumb of him to do it just before the combine, and it's going to cost him millions, but he could be the steal of the draft for the Vikings.