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Ohio State LB Justin Hilliard officially accepts Senior Bowl invite

Scott Schultz

By Scott Schultz

Published:

Ohio State linebacker Justin Hilliard has announced that he is accepting an offer to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

The opportunity will help to improve Hilliard’s ranking for the 2021 NFL Draft, as he has had to deal with getting to this point with two early upper-body injuries followed by an Achilles tear.

While at Ohio State, Hilliard, a five-star recruit, hadn’t had his college career go according to plan.

During the 2020 season, Hilliard spent much of the time as a backup linebacker, but after getting some time on the field and making a significant impact started to get more and more playing time.

Near the end of the season, Hilliard made some extremely important plays, none bigger than the third offensive series by Clemson in the Sugar Bowl where Hilliard stopped Amari Rodgers to force a punt. He then followed that play up with a fumble recovery and a stop of Travis Etienne.

Hopefully Hilliard is able to parlay his Senior Bowl work and pre-draft workouts into a draft pick or free-agent offer to begin his NFL career.

Scott Schultz

Scott Schultz covers Michigan State Football, along with Breaking News for B1G Football & Basketball for Saturday Tradition. He also serves as an Automotive News Editor & Writer, and Softball Writer elsewhere on the web. Follow him on Twitter @SRSchultz.