NFL Draft Profile: Jamal Hill, Safety, Oregon Ducks
#19
Pos: S
Ht: 6002
Wt: 204
DOB: 4/4/2001
Hometown: Morrow, GA
High School: Morrow
Eligibility: 2023
Jamal Hill
Oregon Ducks
One-Liner:
Overall a really talented player and athlete with loads of untapped potential, more film at safety could push him up the boards as a potential top 5 safety in this class when the cycle ends.
Evaluation:
Good looking build, has good length and a strong muscular build with bulk. Oregon played him predominantly at the nickel in 2020. Displays very good eye discipline as an underneath defender who can play between routes without getting out leveraged while working off the quarterback indicator. Impressive man coverage abilities covering quicker slot receivers, flips his hips with ease and showed good short area quickness to stick with receivers when transitioning at the top of the route. Very good play strength, never stays blocked, can lock out on blockers and shed them consistently. A strong tackler who can stop the momentum of ball carriers on contact, is a consistent finisher in run support. Shows good ball skills, competes at the catch point with the ability to track the football and take it away. His evaluation as a safety is hindered by Oregon playing him solely at nickel and not allowing him to show his ability as a true safety. The only range you get to see on tape his him working from a yard outside the hash to the numbers as an underneath defender. He isn’t a strong accelerator, showing average burst when he has to turn and run on vertical routes in man coverage. His lack of burst from his hips, makes you question his range as a safety even though he does not get those reps to show his range as a two-high or one-high safety. Really good football player who impresses you with how well he played in space from the slot at his size. A physically imposing frame that he uses to play physical in the run game as a block shedder and tackler, will show up consistently in run support. Very good with his eyes as an underneath defender, shows promising instincts in coverage. Not tasked with playing in coverage from the back end, his range is a question that cannot fully be answered yet. Struggles carrying slot receivers vertically in man coverage due to his inability to accelerate out of his hips. Overall a really talented player and athlete with loads of untapped potential, more film at safety could push him up the boards as a potential top 5 safety in this class when the cycle ends.
Grade:
4th Round
Background:
Jamal Hill, since coming to Oregon, has been a contributor to the Oregon Ducks Football Team. In 2019, he played in fourteen games and was a starter on both kickoff and punt return coverage. In his Sophomore season, he was a one-time Pac 12 Defensive Player of the Week in December and started seven times for the Ducks in 2021. Playing at Morrow High School, Hill was a three-star prospect and the thirty-eighth-ranked safety in his class, and the forty-fourth overall prospect in the entire state of Georgia. Going into the 2022 season, Hill will look to be a leader in the Ducks secondary.
