Background

Anthony Hill Jr. was born on February 14, 2005, in Wichita, Kansas, and grew up in Denton, Texas. He attended Billy Ryan High School, where he played football and competed in track and field, including the triple jump and the 4×400-meter relay. Earning District 5-5A MVP, first-team MaxPreps All-American as both a sophomore and a junior, and a Class 5A first-team all-state selection, he recorded 303 career tackles, 13 sacks, and 9 forced fumbles in high school, contributing to Ryan's undefeated season and a Class 5A-I state championship as a sophomore. He played in only six games during an injury-shortened senior year but still posted 67 tackles and 5 forced fumbles before playing in the 2023 All-American Bowl. A consensus five-star recruit ranked the No. 1 linebacker nationally and No. 17 overall prospect, he stayed home to play for Steve Sarkisian at Texas. He cracked the starting lineup mid-season as a true freshman in 2023 and earned Freshman All-American honors. He became the heartbeat of the Longhorns' defense in 2024 during their SEC transition and College Football Playoff run, leading the conference with 14.5 TFL and finishing as a Second-Team All-American. His junior season in 2025 ended early because of injury, but not before reaffirming his status as one of the most disruptive linebackers in the country. He served as the green-dot communicator for the Texas defense. He declared for the 2026 NFL Draft as a junior.

Physical Attributes

I am a bit bummed that Hill did not decide to do agility work at the combine, because he is a multi-planar mover. His agility and lateral quickness are some of his best athletic traits, and when looking above, that is saying quite a bit. His speed shows up on tape too, especially as a blitzer where he goes from 0 to 100 to pressuring the QB in the blink of an eye. Not the sturdiest defender, and can get pushed back a bit by both blockers and when making the tackle.

Data and Tape Analysis

If you are unfamiliar with my LB radar charts, you can find more information here

As a 20-year-old in the SEC, Hill had that radar chart above. Is it spectacular? No, but again, 20 in the SEC. His development curve is still in its infancy, and he exhibits the traits I love to see out of a linebacker, even if it comes with a slightly underdeveloped mental side of the game.

Let's talk about that mental side. It is not bad by any means, but if he were not to develop any further, he would find himself out of position, or chasing ghosts in the NFL more than he would want to. Hill bites hard on most play fakes, and being generous, maybe he was told to follow the major action of the play and let the rest of his team sort it out, but his late reaction to when it changed nullifies even that excuse.

It also comes into play in his coverage. I am a bigger fan of it based on the tape I watched than PFF is, but his slight delay in recognizing a route can get him in trouble. He has the athleticism and size to stick with any TE, but as an example, Oscar Delp completely torched him on a seam route because he caught Hill flat-footed. His zone work showed some promise; he follows the QB well and has a decent sense of the surrounding space, but can be prone to miscommunication errors.

Hill has some utility as a blitzer too. Though a blitzer, and not a pass rusher, he offers next to nothing on the line of scrimmage. Coming from deeper, he recognizes gaps and runs through them at breakneck pace. In the pass rush and run game, you can tell he is great at navigating through small gaps in tight spaces to get to the QB or RB. Though if he does not get through the gap on the pass rush, he has no pass-rushing arsenal to work with.

As a run defender, Hill is solid. He stays disengaged from blockers most of the time, and even if he is engaged, can work through the block to make a play on the ball carrier. Most of the time he ends up around the end of the play even if he was not the primary tackler; he has a good sense of where things are going. Though again, that slight lack of awareness can leave him on the opposite side of the play.

Tackling took a big jump in the right direction for Hill this year. In his first two years, he had north of 10% missed tackles, but this year brought it under 5%. Not a sure tackler by any means, but that level of improvement is very promising, and his technique does not look off so much as he might need to add some more strength.

Grade and Outlook

I love very athletic linebackers. I will always take the bet on the early declare, P4 tested, athletic linebacker to develop further in the NFL, especially if they showed consistent growth in college. Hill fits that archetype of player perfectly, and I can see a slight chance he becomes one of the top 3 LBs in the league, but becoming an above-average starter seems almost certain.

Grade: 5.9 (2nd Rounder)