Ronnie Hillman, HB, San Diego St. (SO)

[Hellisan]

He is draft eligible. He has a decent amount of miles on him in college and has played (exceedingly well in fact) hurt. Family doesn't have a lot of money. Losing Lindley after the season. Translation: 100% going pro.

Wondering what others think of him. I have been watching him for two years and a few things stick out.

-Yes, he's pretty slight. Although the black uniforms make it a little exaggerated. He is VERY wiry strong despite the lack of obvious bulk.


edit: Here's an interview where you can see, he's not exactly tiny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=HSkfZ3UGDGU

-Awesome body lean for a guy his size. Almost never loses yardage. Deceptive inside runner, he has had the occasional game where he tries to break too many runs outside but whenever they have had him coached up to stay inside he does really well in there.

-In space he is just deadly, his combination of lateral moves, change of gears, and very good top end speed have resulted in a lot of fantastic runs over the course of his short career. His speed has translated best against big conference competition such as when he single-handedly destroyed Missouri and only a bad call at the end preserved the Missou win.

-plays really well when hurt. Last week with a sore high ankle sprain that limited him to about 80% of his top speed, he had 192 yards.

I'd like to know what the experts think.

Here are some recent highlights against Wyoming including a 99-yard run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCVe7Sunokg

Here is a highlight video called the second coming...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyNWPk7Oq90

The second coming of whom though? Faulk? LOL... I have given it a lot of thought, and the guy he reminds me of the most is Priest Holmes. They both had sort of a gliding, shuffling action to the way they run behind the line, not picking up their feet too much unless they hit bodies on the ground or get to the second level... both have/had incredible quick lateral movement to make people totally miss in short areas. Although Priest was bigger and stronger, Hillman will probably bulk up eventually.

[Hellisan]

I guess I'm too new to post images? The first link is just a pic... Thanks guys.

[BaLLiN]

I like him, but...like you said size, competition, and i haven't watched whole games so highlights are only something that get my attention but doesn't prove he's legit.

[Hellisan]

Named a 3rd Team All American.

One team too low IMO, but still nice considering what college he plays for.

[jayceheathman]

I like him a lot. He dominated us when we played him at home. It probably helped that he had Vincent Brown at WR.

[Hurricanes25]

I saw him earlier this season and I came away impressed. He's small but he's dynamic.

[Matthew Jones]

Last night Hillman looked very quick; smooth scat-back with a little bit of value catching the ball. San Diego State tried lining up up in a few different spots (including split out wide) but he had some trouble finding lanes against a few stacked fronts. Not as powerful as Jordan Todman last year but seems fairly similar as a runner.

[ellsy82]

Originally Posted by Hellisan

He is draft eligible. He has a decent amount of miles on him in college and has played (exceedingly well in fact) hurt. Family doesn't have a lot of money. Losing Lindley after the season. Translation: 100% going pro.

Looks like you were 100% correct. Rep points for you, sir.

[Bald_81]

I was curious to see what opinions there are about Hillman. What is his draft range? The Rams have pretty much made it clear that they're looking for a change of pace back to compliment SJ, so I think Ronnie could be a likely target. I also believe he is being underrated quite a bit and will go higher than most anticipate.

[norcalgsr]

Hillman plans to add 10 lbs before the Combine:
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/...ing-again-nfl/

Personally, I like him more than LaMichael James

[Hellisan]

So the Broncos took him early in the 3rd round IIRC.

I would have said "see, this verifies that at least one NFL team sees him as possibly more than a scatback" because that was too early for a scatback.

However, the pick before that they took that QB from ASU, Osweiler. I think you could do just as well if you took your pick straight to a shredder and threw it in there. Needless to say, I'm not exactly a fan of their thinking right now, so I'm not sure how I feel about the Hillman selection.

[norcalgsr]

Peyton Manning must have loved Hillman's jump/hop cuts that reminded him of Joseph Addai.

[Hellisan]

Originally Posted by norcalgsr

Peyton Manning must have loved Hillman's jump/hop cuts that reminded him of Joseph Addai.

Still reminds me of P. Holmes... or Clinton Portis.