You don't draft "raw" WRs in the goddam second round! You don't draft anyone "raw" in the first several rounds. You don't trade up into the top 5 for a raw inexperienced QB. You don't draft a raw inexperienced OL out of UMass. You don't draft a malcontent lazy kid who was trending downwards at #16. You dont draft a slow garbage CB from freaking Boise just bc u want to beat Peyton Manning. You don't trade a million picks every year. You don't draft a raw, bad hands combine warrior from a triple option in the second round. And you don't spend two draft picks and money on a horrendous backup QB who can't play any position.
It takes 3 years to eveluate a draft and how a player adjusts to the NFL. People writing off Hill, who wasn't expected to be a #1 or #2 coming in to this season, half way through his rookie season with a QB who's shown over 4 years not to be an accurate passer, are just plain silly. Maybe Hill pans out, Maybe he doesnt. But 8 games in to the season where he's shown both a penchant for dropping passes but also for showing flashes of brilliance to write a rookie off is just stupid. Talk to you in 2 more seasons and we'll see what he's doing over that time span.
We aren't talking about one or two bad drops, he is dropping balls at an alarming rate. He was indeed drafted to be a #2. What #2 was suppose to be ahead of him?? He had this same issue at Georgia Tech. What other examples of players with this bad of hands magically developed solid hands once they were in the pros? Its usually a thing where you have it or you dont. Its once again another raw project pick that the Jets think they have a steal but it may not work for them. Lets hope some of us are wrong but anyone would be lying if they arent concerned with just how bad of hands this guy has....
We haven't seen a pass where he can climb the ladder yet this year, but you are right, he needs to work on catching the ball with his hands. In fairness, how many balls do you see our wide receivers diving for balls. Almost every pass is overthrown, underthrown, too far out in front, or behind the WR.
If Hill was going to be a particularly good WR in the NFL he'd have played that role in college too. No coach is foolish enough to say "we're a run first team dammit and I don't care if we have a guy that can dominate CB's we're not going to throw to him much." He can be a piece of the puzzle for us but it's not going to be a primary piece. Braylon Edwards had more natural ability in his pinky than Stephen Hill has in his entire body. The difference, if Hill can make it up, is going to be all hard work on his part and maximizing things that do not come naturally to him.
the only thing Hill has to learn is not to catch the ball with his body. That can be coached, whether or not Hill learns it, that remains to be seen. But if Hill learns that then he does have the hands, you don't make circus catches without having good hands. He's just got the bad habbit if letting the ball get to his chest and not using his hands. If he learns that he'll be special, if he doesn't...
Okay he drops passes but you have to remember he is getting adjusted to the pro-style which means less reaction time from break to catch to tuck. He's been fine this year as I was expecting growing pains. Look at Demaryius Thomas he's coming into his own and why he worked hard and got better. Stephen Hill is the least of our worries. We need a QB, RB, TE, OG, OLB and OLB
He's a boom or bust pick, but he has a ton of talent, he's a rookie, and you can just tell that he cares. I can only assume that that means during the week he wants to get better. He went to GT because they recruited him first if I remember correctly and being loyal, didn't want to leave just because they were run-first. I'd love to have raw talents that care over guys like Holmes who seem like they just want to get paid.
I watched part of the Broncos/Saints game tonight. Thomas looked a lot better tonight then he did at any point last year. There is definitely hope for Hill to break out next year.
Dudes.... We knew this when his name was called draft day. GT runs a 3 option, which in a nutshell means the receivers really only have to catch jump balls lobbed up half way down the field. Its a little early for buyers remorse. If he's still doing this shit halfway into next season I'll be concerned. Season's shot anyway.
Heck I gave Sanchez 2.5 seasons before I became critical of him, and it wasn't till this season that I really started harping on him. I expect rookies to struggle from time to time, it's the rare player who comes from college in to the pros and doesn't struggle. Besides, there are a lot of elite recievers who drop a lot of passes.
Georgia Tech is an option team. That entire team was recruited to be an option team, and they recruited receivers who were big and fast and could both block and get deep. That's exactly what Demaryius Thomas did. When Thomas has been on the field the last two years, he's been one of the most productive receivers in the NFL. Hill led FBS in yards per catch last year. He was effective in that role as a junior. It's rare people adjust their entire offenses around one player. Paul Johnson has been an option coach for almost 30 years. It's college football. Teams have systems. It's rare that coaches abandon the systems they use because one player is elite, and no one is saying Hill is elite right now. Hill needs to develop. He's got some raw tools. He clearly needs experience, we always knew when we got him. He might not be good enough, but he has size and the ability to get separation. He's dropping passes, but that's something that hopefully will improve as he gets used to the speed of the game.
The drop (I don't even know if you'd call it that, since he never had his hands on it) in the EZ today was a momentum killer. He's a rookie, but let's face it, he's been little help to Sanchez considering he's dropped two touchdowns this season.
Hill only went to Georgia Tech because they wanted him when no one else did. He could have went to Georgia but stuck with him commitment. I'd rather have a guy like him than a Dez Bryant or Santonio Holmes
Thomas was recruited by Chan Gailey, not Paul Johnson. GA Tech's offense changed completely when Johnson came on board. Hill was recruited by Johnson.
Just a few notes on Hill before the draft. Mike Mayock, who's generally pretty well respected, ." Mayock said he watched all of Hill's film from the season and counted five or six drops with his 28 catches, calling two of them critical, drops against North Carolina and Clemson. "But when you watch him catch the ball, he's a natural hands catcher," he said. "I think it's more concentration and discipline than it is anything else." - Ken Sugiura, The Atlanta Journal Constitution. ". Some scouts might be concerned with Hill's junior season, in which he dropped easily catchable balls but made the spectacular catches. But scouts view him as a natural hands catcher."- NFLdraftscouts.com I could go on in this, but that pretty well sums it up. He's a fairly raw prospect that had, as one scout put it, huge upside. He was among the top 50 players on most peoples charts. Now what we're seeing is the raw part, one of the knocks on him on dropping the easy catches is that he takes his eyes off the ball on the easy catches and as a result drops a lot of the easy balls to catch. This is trainable and a matter of discipline. Maybe he learns it, maybe he doesn't, but you don't make many circus catches if you don't have good hands. Just a matter of breaking the habit of looking to run before you have the ball on the easy catches. But, bare in mind that many of you would trade him straight up for Cruz, but Cruz ranks near the bottom in terms of passes dropped in the NFL over the last couple of years. Also on that list, Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, and several other big play receivers, in fact it's been one of the failings of a player people keep wishing the Jet had kept, Braylon Edwards before he came to the jets. Hopefully Hill learns to keep his eyes on the ball, but if nothing else even if he drops 50% of the catchable balls thrown to him he will keep defenses honest just on the fear of that 50/50 shot down deep...assuming the Jets break with trend and start using the deep ball to make use of that threat.
This is completely incorrect. Nothing wrong with taking a 'raw' prospect if you feel he has the tools to develop into a top talent. Ask the Giants if they regret drafting JPP who was considered one of the rawest talents to come along in quite some time. The rest of your post is full of logical fallacies and poor assumptions that aren't even worth addressing.
