Stephen Hill Expects a "Breakout" Year 3

[faba]

Gotta' say, I don't have as much hate for Hill as a lot of folks do.  Looking at his situation coming out of college, I figured he'd be a project, albeit more productive up to this point.  However, I told myself it'd probably be 3 years before we see him start to make a real  impact.  If he hasn't made huge strides this season, then I'll be on board with the "bust" crowd.

That is how I feel this is his last shot to finally show that he deserves to be on the roster.

[slats]

Gotta' say, I don't have as much hate for Hill as a lot of folks do.  Looking at his situation coming out of college, I figured he'd be a project, albeit more productive up to this point.  However, I told myself it'd probably be 3 years before we see him start to make a real  impact.  If he hasn't made huge strides this season, then I'll be on board with the "bust" crowd.

Completely agree. The Jets have a lot of WRs in camp this summer, so Hill is going to have to earn his spot on the roster and snaps on the field. I think (and most of these articles seem to agree) that we would've seen a lot more production out of him if not for the injuries. More than anything, he has to prove he can stay on the field this season. As long as he's not hurt, he's the clear favorite to start opposite Decker, IMHO. He's just got way too much in the size/speed department to give up on him prematurely.

[Sperm Edwards]

Gotta' say, I don't have as much hate for Hill as a lot of folks do.  Looking at his situation coming out of college, I figured he'd be a project, albeit more productive up to this point.  However, I told myself it'd probably be 3 years before we see him start to make a real  impact.  If he hasn't made huge strides this season, then I'll be on board with the "bust" crowd.

 

I think that's the problem. People know that it can take prospects who aren't raw 2-3 years to develop, but when we draft one they guy has 1-2 years maximum or he's a bust.  With someone like Hill you have to know going in that you're not getting much out of him on his rookie contract (unless you just get lucky).  The biggest problem with Hill - other than over-drafting him - has been the lack of good talent ahead of him.  Lots of guys who take 3 years (+/-1) get groomed into the position behind a veteran.  Then after 2-3 years, that veteran's contract runs out and you insert the new guy full time. But along the way, he's been given playing time even if not as the regular starter.  

 

With Hill, he was totally unready and there wasn't much else on the roster.  To make things worse, the one actual talent we had to play outside (Holmes) got hurt early in Hill's rookie season.  So even if he didn't start from game 1 (and he had a pretty good game 1 incidentally) he'd have been thrown in there before long anyway, and that still would have been before he was ready.  In year 2 we were likely to see more tangible improvement than we got to, but he was never healthy the whole season and then got shut down a few weeks early. But even the games he was in there for, he wasn't totally all there.  Or that's the story we've been fed.

 

That being said, he's 23 (as has been mentioned plenty of times) and has a size/speed combo that everyone drools over.  Because his position is one where players routinely get subbed in & out, he doesn't necessarily have to start week 1 for him to finish as the regular starter (due to his play rather than due to others' play or health).  It's ludicrous to consider cutting him unless, by the end of the summer, he still looks so clueless that activating him on gameday is a luxury or his roster spot is wasted and is just hampering the development of any/all of 3 WRs we just drafted.

 

I think he'll be a nice surprise (particularly considering his first 2 seasons), but that may be hope more than anything.  I'm still very much in wait & see mode before I form any concrete opinion one way or the other on Hill.