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Senior Bowl director, draft analyst says one Ohio State LB helped his stock more than anyone
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The Senior Bowl serves as an opportunity for some of college football’s top players to improve their draft stock. According to one analyst, nobody took more advantage of that chance than Ohio State linebacker Justin Hilliard.
Jim Nagy, an NFL Draft analyst and executive director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl, tweeted out this week that “No player in the 2021 draft helped himself more over past two months than Ohio State LB Justin Hilliard.” The Buckeye impressed during Ohio State’s College Football Playoff run, as well as the Senior Bowl.
Nagy shared a clip of Hilliard in the tweet:
No player in 2021 draft helped himself more over past two months than @OhioStateFB LB Justin Hilliard (@JHilliard47). Former 5⭐️ overcame string of injuries to excel in CFP and was one of top performers Senior Bowl week. This drop & drive is exactly what NFL is looking for at LB. pic.twitter.com/9TMF7sgG8W
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) February 11, 2021
Hilliard finished the 2020 season with 33 tackles, an interception a pass break-up and a forced fumble. He was particularly good in the final three games of the season, collected 5 tackles for loss in Ohio State’s games against Northwestern (B1G Championship), Clemson and Alabama (College Football Playoff).
As the season chugged along, Hilliard seemed to get better. That carried over into this year’s Senior Bowl, and he has apparently really improved his outlook for the 2021 NFL Draft.
It’ll be interesting to see where the former Buckeye lands come Draft Day.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB