51 Days to Kickoff: Matthew Hill

2019 breakout player to watch?

As we continue our march to kickoff, we take a look at the top 100 recruits to sign with Auburn of all-time*. The rankings are based on 247’s composite recruit rankings, which unfortunately only date back to 2000.

THE RECRUIT

Hill was one of the big wins in the 2018 signing class. Offered by just about everybody in the business, the Tigers initially won his pledge in mid August. However, Hill elected not to sign early and took a late official visit to Clemson. In the end, the Brookwood standout stayed true to his word and signed with the Tigers.

Here’s what I had to say about Hill when he pulled the trigger almost two years ago:

Hill is an elite athlete with big time upside. He has the speed to stretch a team vertically and the leaping ability to go up and get the ball in coverage. He also possess outstanding hands and every time he touches the ball there’s a chance it could go the distance. The talented Brookwood athlete plays all over the field including some as a hard hitting strong safety. There’s no doubt this is the biggest WR commit Kodi Burns has landed to date and a big boost to the 2018 recruiting class.

Hill ended up being Auburn’s 2nd highest ranked commit in the 2018 class.

THE Player

However, like Auburn’s top ranked commit in the 2018 class (Joey Gatewood), Hill did not play much in 2018 due in large part to having to play behind Ryan Davis. He kept his redshirt due to only appearing in two games and enters the 2019 campaign with hopes of carving out a larger role in the offense moving forward. While Seth Williams was the star of A-Day, the Snellville, GA native had some nice moments of his own including this nifty TD grab.

I still have high hopes for Hill. He’s an incredible athlete that at minimum should eventually find his way on the field as a return man. He might still be a year away from becoming a go to option for Auburn’s young QBs but I still feel confident that before he leaves the Plains he will be an important piece of this Auburn passing attack.

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