{"id":251153,"date":"2025-07-31T17:08:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T17:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/251153\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T17:08:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T17:08:13","slug":"todd-mcshay-highlights-two-biggest-concerns-in-anthony-hill-jr-as-nfl-prospect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/251153\/","title":{"rendered":"Todd McShay highlights two biggest concerns in Anthony Hill Jr. as NFL prospect"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas<\/a> LB Anthony Hill Jr.<\/a> has been very productive as an underclassman defender for the Longhorns. As he reaches draft eligibility, though, Todd McShay is looking for a couple of improvements to his game during his junior year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

McShay evaluated Hill, a Preseason All-SEC First Team selection, as a prospect in the class for the 2026 NFL Draft<\/a> during this week\u2019s episode of \u2018The McShay Show\u2019<\/a>. That came with a lot of pros regarding his measurables, statistics, and what he see from him on film instinctually as a player who can have several effects on a defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnthony Hill<\/a> \u2013 6\u20193\u2033, 235 pounds,\u201d said McShay. \u201cRuns a 4.48, okay. That\u2019s what the estimated time is. I don\u2019t know if I quite saw that. I think he\u2019s fast. I think he\u2019s like a 4.53-4.55 guy, which is great \u2013 very, very good.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got, obviously, great traits. Length at off-ball linebacker has become more and more important as the passing game has become more and more important because, I can tell you firsthand, they\u2019re a pain in the ass to throw around and to throw over with that length, okay. Highly instinctive. I really like his instincts. Highly productive, obviously. A nose for the football, make a lot of big plays,\u201d McShay continued. \u201cWhat I notice about him is like, it\u2019s kind of, not effortless, but like, some guys have fast eyes. They\u2019ve been taught to read their keys. He, to me? What I saw is a guy that\u2019s like, really used to it, really comfortable. It\u2019s easy for him. Locates the ball quickly. Not a lot of false steps. Snuffs out, you know, screens and misdirections early. Faster than any other guy on that Texas defense on a lot of plays \u2013 not always but a lot of plays. Really effective in the passing game \u2013 good range, instincts, gets in position\u2026I see a guy who\u2019s very capable in coverage. And then you add the fact, at 6\u20193, 235? He can be effective as a pass rusher\u2026But can he do it in the league?\u201d<\/p>\n

In 30 appearances, 22 being starts, Hill has posted 180 tackles, 25 being for loss, with 13 sacks, five forced fumbles with one recovery, three deflections, and an interception. That has had him top-five in tackles, tackles for loss, sacks, and forced fumbles in each of his seasons on the Texas defense. That includes last year where, as the Longhorns\u2019 most productive player on that side, Hill had 113 tackles, 17 being for loss, with eight sacks, four forced fumbles with his lone recovery, and the pick with the tackles, tackles for loss, and forced fumbles being team-highs and the sacks being second-most by one to only Collin Simmons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, as for cons, McShay did have a pair in his assessment of Hill. Those come in regarding his engagement when it comes to a head along with some of his tackles despite his sheer total.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought his take-on skills were average at best, but not bad. And I say that because, when he does get engaged, like fully engaged, it\u2019s over. That\u2019s the case with most off the ball linebackers,\u201d said McShay. \u201cWhen an offensive lineman climbs to the second level, and they get their 320 on your 235? It\u2019s human nature at that point. What he does really well is he takes that snapshot that we talked about. I see that in him. He\u2019s got the instincts, the eyes. He sees where the ball carrier is going. Is he coming right, coming left? Now I\u2019m going in for engagement, but I\u2019m going to make this shit quick. It\u2019s got to be quick, you know what I mean? He does a good job with, like, that quick stun move and then, like, the quick hands. And so he keeps a lot of guys from getting to that final, like, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m done\u2019 moment but, when they do, it\u2019s over.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe second thing is, I think he\u2019s a low-impact tackler\u2026which isn\u2019t the biggest thing in the world,\u201d said McShay. \u201cAnd has five forced fumbles? You\u2019d expect more of that like, (pop), on contact\u2026Falls off a bunch of tackles, right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on that, as well as some recent history at the position, McShay didn\u2019t know if Hill would be a first-round pick right now. That said, if those improvements can be made, he may very well be come the spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo knocks I\u2019ve got on him right now, and they both can be improved upon and they\u2019re not as important necessarily as the strengths,\u201d said McShay.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s see where we are in April. That\u2019s the beauty of doing this,\u201d McShay said. \u201cWe got a foundation, and now we\u2019ll grow.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas LB Anthony Hill Jr. has been very productive as an underclassman defender for the Longhorns. As he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5780,7,6,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-251153","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-anthony-hill-23-ryan","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-nfl-draft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114948952028402811","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}