LIKE IT IS : Plenty to love about Hillis despite strange fall
Posted on Sunday, May 11, 2008
On The South Stands, a Denver Broncos Internet forum, the 2008 NFL Draft has been a favorite subject.
South Stands Junkie wrote of Peyton Hillis: "I love this pick.... He looks like he should be playing tight end."
The next Broncos booster was Bronco Militia, who posed a very legitimate question: "How does a guy that blocks for two 1, 000-yard rushers in the SEC fall to the seventh round ?"
That question has been asked around Arkansas for several days about the former Razorback.
Consider that in the days leading up to the draft, experts thought Peyton Hillis was a third- or fourth-round pick, which would have brought him to camp with a much better chance of being an automatic to make the squad.
In his career at Arkansas, he rushed for 960 yards (4. 7 average per carry ) and scored 12 touchdowns, six as a freshman before Darren McFadden and Felix Jones arrived on campus.
He caught 118 passes for 1, 197 yards and 11 touchdowns, returned 12 kickoffs for 213 yards (17. 8 average ) and 25 punts for 257 yards (10. 3 ).
In his final regular-season game, he lit up eventual national champion LSU for 151 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns.
Some thought that might jump him up to the third round because he showed his versatility.
Hillis is a guy who in the NFL can play fullback, H-back, tailback and return kicks or punts (as a Razorback he also saw action at tight end and wide receiver ).
For his 6-1, 240-pound muscled frame, he has good speed and great hands.
A Parade All-American out of Conway High School, Hillis found himself primarily as a blocker his final three seasons for McFadden and Jones, both first-round picks.
Mostly he did it without complaint, but when you have been scoring touchdowns your entire life, there is going to be a period of adjustment.
Yet, while he could be outspoken at times and almost critical of some coaching decisions after tough, emotional losses, he's a young man who now always talks about God and how important he is in his life.
Still, why did Peyton Hillis fall to the seventh round, the 227 th player taken overall ?
Many Houston Nutt critics want to believe the former UA coach did not give him a good review to NFL scouts, that Hillis' honesty had rubbed Nutt the wrong way.
Josh Melton, a four-year letterman on the Razorbacks' offensive line, called Sports Animals on Arkansas Radio Network last week, unsolicited, to say he believed Nutt had told scouts there were character and injury issues and that Hillis is tough to have in the locker room.
That last one has a familiar ring because Hillis was not afraid to speak his mind going all the way back to his sophomore season, when he told the media he might move himself to linebacker, which caused a stir with fans and the coaching staff.
However, it would be ridiculous for anyone, especially Nutt, to say Hillis would not play with pain.
His playing hurt is well-documented.
He suffered a severe thigh bruise his junior season that developed into a career-threatening calcium deposit because he refused to sit out. When he finally was forced to sit, the Razorbacks did not win another game that season.
As a freshman, he played with a broken bone in his back.
Hillis is tougher than a claw hammer on a pecan.
As for character, Hillis might have made some missteps when he first arrived, but he certainly was not a featured name on the police blotter.
There might have been other issues that concerned NFL scouts. After Hillis was drafted, the Denver Post reported he was not a strong blocker.
Whatever it was that caused Hillis to slide to the seventh round in the draft will continue to be debated, but most likely, it will remain a mystery.
Yet, it is reminiscent of another former Razorback by the name of Jason Peters, who was not drafted and is now a Pro Bowler.
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