Born in Columbus, Mississippi, Kylin Hill started his journey to the NFL at Columbus High School where he won The Commercial Dispatch Offensive Player of the Year award in both his junior and senior years.
Hill decided to stay close to home when he committed to Mississippi State in 2017 and after a great true freshman season for the university, Hill began his sophomore season in 2018 as the starter. He went on to be a crucial part of Mississippi’s offense and attended two bowl games with the university in 2017 and 2019.
2019 was easily his best year during his college career as he went on to play in the Outback Bowl, was named in the First Team All-SEC, and was awarded the Conerly Trophy, an award given to the best player in the entire state of Mississippi.
Here are his 4-year college career stats (via ESPN):
Strengths:
- A pure power back that would work well as a complement to Miles Sanders for the Eagles. Has the perfect body for his style of play standing at 5’11 and 215 lbs.
- Does exactly what he’s supposed to as a power back. Great at lowering his pad level into contact, has a very strong base and is very difficult to bring down even when defenders try to attack his legs. He never stops working for yards.
- I love his confidence and instinct. He will never go against was his gut told him and will always attack that hole. Even on occasions where you expect him to be a little more patient with his play, he bursts with a real level of assertion.
- Very disciplined when playing, will hardly ever divert off the design of the play.
- He knows he isn’t the most fluid or flexible guy so he keeps his legs churning and uses one hand swipes etc to beat defenders
- A very solid power back that will always give you what you expect of him.
Weaknesses:
- While I love the confidence in himself, it can be his downfall at times. He will often miss open lanes because of a gamble elsewhere that involves aking punishment, which will hurt his longevity.
- Obviously hasn’t got the speed to outrun defenders so if he does break through the coverage on a long run, there’s a good chance he’ll be caught before he gets to the end-zone.
- Has been fortunate by the fact that when he does run into traffic, he’s found a way to bounce around and then find space to work with.
- Has a bad habit of running into the back of his own blockers and killing a play.
- He will need work to deal with some of the bad habits he has, and he’ll have to find a good balance of patience and aggression.
What he could bring to the Eagles:
Running back isn’t anywhere near the level of need that the Eagles have at other positions right now, but other than Miles Sanders, the Eagles are lacking an RB2 who can take some of the load and actually produce. Sanders still has some convincing to do, but it’s clear he should be RB1. The Eagles need another option at running back and, in my opinion, Kylin Hill is the best option for the Eagles.
I hate using the past as a pointer to the future, but the Eagles were a force in the running game when Blount was with the team in the 2017 season and that hole has not been filled despite numerous efforts from players like Jay Ajayi and Jordan Howard. Kylin Hill is that guy. He can be a great power back for the Eagles who will do the dirty work for the team. I think Hill should be an early day 3 pick for Philly, especially after Hill was praised by a lot of people during his time at the 2021 Senior Bowl.
Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire
