Yesterday I posted my game evaluation of George MacIntyre, which you can see here. I got to go over Antwann Hill last night as well as the morning, while he's meanwhile camping at Clemson. Hill has not yet been offered, but there seems to a level of mutual interest. I'm aiming to get Blake Hebert done tomorrow as I was able to find a game from him, but TBD on that. Without further ado,
Context: 2nd game of the year for Houston County facing a solid Perry team from what I saw. HoCo was down 28-3 and came back to win on a 2pt conversion 57-56 with 10 seconds to go.
Offense: HoCo runs a pretty simple spread attack that relies on Ryan Taleb, an actually pretty talented but undersized back who will likely find a place in the FCS or low FBS, to get consistent yards on the ground while letting Antwann Hill air it out vertically to Kale Woodburn, a WR committed to Cincinnati who is very underrated due to his 5’9 size. I bet he turns into a pretty dang good slot receiver for the Bearcats. Lot of hitches and curls combined with the threat of Hill airing it out deep to keep defenses on edge.
****In my evaluation, I am keeping in mind that I’m evaluating a week 2 game for Hill vs a playoff game for MacIntyre. That likely will lead to more issues from Hill that will get worked out as the season goes along.
What Hill does well:
Hill has excellent arm strength and a beautiful deep ball. HoCo's offense is predicated on freeing up easy stuff underneath by having the threat of going vertical. Hill executes this well as he has a beautiful deep ball. Multiple times he was accurate within inches from 30-40 yards. He throws a mean deep back shoulder fade. I noted an impressive TD pass where he threw that back shoulder fade from the 30 yard line on the far hash and he couldn’t have put it in a better place. Along with that, He’s comfortable working from the far hash on curls and hitches to the other side as well as out routes across field. If you ask me, I think Hill can push 65 yards on his deep ball if needed. NFL level arm talent.
I like Hill’s progressions. For a sophomore, he does a good job scanning and having an internal clock to find a quick dump off to his back. It can sometimes get him in trouble when he’s pressing and trying to do too much late in the game, but I think he did a good job finding positive yards through the air when nothing else was there.
Gotta say, I like Hill’s guts. I never found him prone to falling backwards when a blitz was in his face. In one of the best moments of the game, he’s facing interior pressure about 25 yards out from the endzone. He knows he has his Y running a slot post and IDs man coverage. It’s the Woodburn, Cinci commit WR, so he has a good feeling he'll be open. He stands tall in the pocket, isn’t fazed by the pressure, and throws an absolute 20 yard dart for a TD. Huge play momentum wise in HoCo's comeback on 4th down to keep the game close.
Where Hill has room to grow:
It became a theme throughout that Hill doesn’t like to scramble. He preferred trying to find a receiver even when he had open grass in front of him. It’s unclear whether this is a mental block or he’s just really slow. I’ll tie this into inconsistent pocket presence. Sometimes, like in that aforementioned TD pass, he’s great and knows when he can get a throw off. Other times, I think he stuck in the pocket far too long instead of bailing out and evading pressure. He takes a bad sack with a minute left when he needs to bail and instead tries to step up into the pocket.
Hill is inconsistent in his accuracy. It can almost always be tied to his footwork, which is common. He has a bad habit of double stepping into a throw when he gets excited. Like instead of stepping and throwing, he’d take a baby-step and then his big step. It threw his timing and synchronization off and his accuracy suffered. It wasn’t bad throughout and he made some incredible throws, but he also made some head scratchers. Normal Sophomore year tape stuff.
There were a few WTF decisions. One interception where it was just unclear what he saw to make him throw it, another ball into far too much traffic taking an unnecessary risk. These felt like Sophomore decisions. Something that isn’t a dealbreaker unless it continues into next year.
Overall:
You can’t watch Hill and not understand where the hype comes from. His arm is massive and he throws a great deep ball. Along with that, he has moments where it all comes together and it’s gorgeous -- great pocket presence, guts, big time accurate throw, etc. This is an evaluation that I wouldn’t consider finished until I get to see later season games or a game next year. If he cleans up his footwork and overall mechanics, he will likely cut out the inaccurate throws. That alongside cutting out some of the decision making errors and Hill can easily fit the profile of a top 50 or higher prospect. If not, I think I’d place him in the 75-100 range due to his arm strength, size, guts and flashes of overall excellence and figure he can become a big-time QB with a QB coach who drills the mechanics into him while continuing to make smarter decisions. Just need to see a little bit more from him.
Context: 2nd game of the year for Houston County facing a solid Perry team from what I saw. HoCo was down 28-3 and came back to win on a 2pt conversion 57-56 with 10 seconds to go.
Offense: HoCo runs a pretty simple spread attack that relies on Ryan Taleb, an actually pretty talented but undersized back who will likely find a place in the FCS or low FBS, to get consistent yards on the ground while letting Antwann Hill air it out vertically to Kale Woodburn, a WR committed to Cincinnati who is very underrated due to his 5’9 size. I bet he turns into a pretty dang good slot receiver for the Bearcats. Lot of hitches and curls combined with the threat of Hill airing it out deep to keep defenses on edge.
****In my evaluation, I am keeping in mind that I’m evaluating a week 2 game for Hill vs a playoff game for MacIntyre. That likely will lead to more issues from Hill that will get worked out as the season goes along.
What Hill does well:
Hill has excellent arm strength and a beautiful deep ball. HoCo's offense is predicated on freeing up easy stuff underneath by having the threat of going vertical. Hill executes this well as he has a beautiful deep ball. Multiple times he was accurate within inches from 30-40 yards. He throws a mean deep back shoulder fade. I noted an impressive TD pass where he threw that back shoulder fade from the 30 yard line on the far hash and he couldn’t have put it in a better place. Along with that, He’s comfortable working from the far hash on curls and hitches to the other side as well as out routes across field. If you ask me, I think Hill can push 65 yards on his deep ball if needed. NFL level arm talent.
I like Hill’s progressions. For a sophomore, he does a good job scanning and having an internal clock to find a quick dump off to his back. It can sometimes get him in trouble when he’s pressing and trying to do too much late in the game, but I think he did a good job finding positive yards through the air when nothing else was there.
Gotta say, I like Hill’s guts. I never found him prone to falling backwards when a blitz was in his face. In one of the best moments of the game, he’s facing interior pressure about 25 yards out from the endzone. He knows he has his Y running a slot post and IDs man coverage. It’s the Woodburn, Cinci commit WR, so he has a good feeling he'll be open. He stands tall in the pocket, isn’t fazed by the pressure, and throws an absolute 20 yard dart for a TD. Huge play momentum wise in HoCo's comeback on 4th down to keep the game close.
Where Hill has room to grow:
It became a theme throughout that Hill doesn’t like to scramble. He preferred trying to find a receiver even when he had open grass in front of him. It’s unclear whether this is a mental block or he’s just really slow. I’ll tie this into inconsistent pocket presence. Sometimes, like in that aforementioned TD pass, he’s great and knows when he can get a throw off. Other times, I think he stuck in the pocket far too long instead of bailing out and evading pressure. He takes a bad sack with a minute left when he needs to bail and instead tries to step up into the pocket.
Hill is inconsistent in his accuracy. It can almost always be tied to his footwork, which is common. He has a bad habit of double stepping into a throw when he gets excited. Like instead of stepping and throwing, he’d take a baby-step and then his big step. It threw his timing and synchronization off and his accuracy suffered. It wasn’t bad throughout and he made some incredible throws, but he also made some head scratchers. Normal Sophomore year tape stuff.
There were a few WTF decisions. One interception where it was just unclear what he saw to make him throw it, another ball into far too much traffic taking an unnecessary risk. These felt like Sophomore decisions. Something that isn’t a dealbreaker unless it continues into next year.
Overall:
You can’t watch Hill and not understand where the hype comes from. His arm is massive and he throws a great deep ball. Along with that, he has moments where it all comes together and it’s gorgeous -- great pocket presence, guts, big time accurate throw, etc. This is an evaluation that I wouldn’t consider finished until I get to see later season games or a game next year. If he cleans up his footwork and overall mechanics, he will likely cut out the inaccurate throws. That alongside cutting out some of the decision making errors and Hill can easily fit the profile of a top 50 or higher prospect. If not, I think I’d place him in the 75-100 range due to his arm strength, size, guts and flashes of overall excellence and figure he can become a big-time QB with a QB coach who drills the mechanics into him while continuing to make smarter decisions. Just need to see a little bit more from him.
