Freshmen Faces: Nikhai Hill-Green
Coming out of Baltimore St. Frances, Nikhai Hill-Green was considered a three-star prospect, the No. 390 overall player nationally and the No. 25 outside linebacker in the country. After playing the first three years of his high school career at Pittsburgh North Catholic, Hill-Green wrapped up his prep career at St. Frances and helped the Panthers to an 11-1 season in 2019 and the No. 3 rank in the USA Today Super 25. He wasn't the focal point on a loaded St. Frances defense, but he seems far from his ceiling as an incoming freshman.
Recruitment
Hill-Green committed to Michigan on May 23, 2019, becoming the second St. Frances linebacker to do so after Osman Savage pulled the trigger in January. The stout linebacker racked up more than 30 offers over his high school career with Michigan being one of his bigger tenders. He had opportunities from schools like Boston College, Indiana, LSU, Louisville, Minnesota, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and Wisconsin among others.
Player Breakdown/Player Comparison
Hill-Green is an interesting athlete. As he gets ready to start his career at Michigan, he's listed at 6-1, 230 pounds. However, earlier in his career at North Catholic, he was a very dangerous wide receiver at 6-1 and about 180-190 pounds. Most analysts at the time knew he'd grow out of the position, and would eventually be a very athletic and productive safety or linebacker, and here we are.
His days as a skill player suggest that he's a plus athlete who can run. He's high-cut with long arms and legs and really has a great frame to add weight and bulk up, or stay lean and get shredded. However Michigan decides to shape his body will determine where he plays. He's played both linebacker and safety a lot in high school so covering, tackling and taking on blocks is all familiar to him, which should lend itself well as he settles into a position at Michigan. Because of his size, versatility, length and athleticism, he could really be a great depth player early for all three (SAM, MIKE, WILL) linebacker positions, with the potential to be a really, good, really productive starter over the course of his career.
When I watch Hill-Green's senior highlight tape, I see an aggressive, smart-blitzing, lengthy and instinctive linebacker who makes a lot of plays in a lot of ways. To me, that sounds like Lavonte David of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
David is now 30 years old, so his build is more mature looking with a thicker lower half, but at 6-1, 233 pounds, he's not any "bigger" than Hill-Green is now.
David was a tackling machine at Nebraska and has carved out a role as one of the more dependable linebackers in the NFL. He ran a pretty modest 4.65 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine and isn't really billed as the most athletic linebacker in the league, but he's fast enough, agile enough and, most importantly, instinctive enough to make a lot of stops and hold down the second level of Tampa's defense.
I think Hill-Green can be the same type of player. He's plenty athletic, but won't be the most athletic linebacker on Michigan's roster, and won't be the biggest either. Still, his style of play, aggressive mindset and overall length and ability is exactly what you look for in a linebacker. Compared to other members of Michigan's 2020 class, he's not talked about as much, but I think he could end up being very productive for the Wolverines.
2020 Outlook
I don't think we'll see much of Hill-Green at all in 2020 as he gets his body where it needs to be and settles into a position, but without much depth behind Cameron McGrone and Josh Ross, he could find himself in a backup role depending on how fall camp goes. Is he a SAM, a MIKE or a WILL? Could he even morph into a Josh Uche-type of player? Time will tell, but eventually I think he'll find a spot, own it and be very good there.
