Anthony Hill out for the Season

'07 Football General44

State’s hope for a big surprise in 2007 just took a big hit.

It was announced today that All-ACC and NFL-caliber tight end, Anthony Hill will miss the 2007 football season with a knee injury

We talked about this on Monday when rumors started surfacing on the topic but “the administration” wasn’t allowing Pack Pride and The Wolfpacker weren’t allowed to talk about the topic.

(How does that make all of you ‘premium’ subscribers who are spending $99 a year feel about your purchase? Similarly ‘interesting is the sudden deletion of topics and comments from moderators and posters on Monday proclaiming that Hill was fine).

So, where will the Wolfpack turn for help at tight end? The N&O proposes the following:

Without Hill, a 6-6 senior who has 61 career receptions, State might have to start former quarterback Marcus Stone at tight end.

Stone started the final six games of the 2005 season and first three games of N.C. State’s 3-9 season in 2006 at quarterback. He switched to tight end, under former coach Chuck Amato, after Daniel Evans succeeded him at quarterback. Stone caught four passes for 68 yards in 2006.

Sophomore Matt Kushner (6-4, 256 pounds), who is listed third on the preseason depth chart, played in all 12 games in 2006. Kushner started, with Hill, against Akron and Clemson, but did not have a catch.

I don’t have problem with Kushner not catching the ball a lot as long as he can block. I am confident that the Matt Jones-like Marcus Stone has the potential to provide the Wolfpack with a serviceable pass-catching option. But, can Stone take up enough space and block adequately to support what is expected to be a ground-based offensive plan?

Other names that may surface in competition for playing time at tight end could include: (R-Fr) Rashad Phillips, (R-Jr) Frank Fields and incoming freshman George Bryan.

Of course, it would be nice to be able to redshirt the talented Bryan. Perhaps if Hill comes back for the 2008 season, then Bryan could actually take a redshirt in his second year to provide us more depth and scholarship spacing at the position.

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'07 Football General

44 Responses to Anthony Hill out for the Season

  1. RAWFS 07/26/2007 at 9:24 AM #

    I for one am not the least bit surprised by the censorship of the topic over on the premium forums of PP and TWP. Where the premium forums over there used to be a solid source of information about more than “just” recruiting, these days they aren’t so much that any more.

    I have a feeling that our sports information group has a tight reign on them with the ever-present threat of excommunication. Now I don’t KNOW that, but putting 2 and 2 together I certainly see a 4.

    As for us (SFN, RAWFS and probably S6) they just wish we’d all go away, since we’re beyond their control.

  2. burnbarn 07/26/2007 at 10:01 AM #

    I wonder what the big deal would have been to say that yes, Hill is injured and we are testing right now to find out the extent of his injuries. Exploratory surgery will be performed next week and we will then know his status.

    I just don’t understand why the secrecy… the season is a long way. We were trying to confuse our opponents for the opener 6 weeks away?

    It just makes no sense.

  3. BJD95 07/26/2007 at 10:09 AM #

    The way I see it, we now have 2 “half” TEs, one who can block (Kushner) and one who can catch passes (Stone). Hopefully, we don’t end up giving away our playcalling by which TE is in the huddle. This is also a very serious hit to our depth, which is my 3rd biggest worry (after LB and OL) for this season.

    And major kudos to beowolf for a FANTASTIC post.

  4. scpackman 07/26/2007 at 10:09 AM #

    I’ve never had one, but some guys can walk around with ACL’s and no pain etc…I have no info, but maybe that was the case here? If he had no pain, and no conclusive MRI information….no injury until they scoped yesterday?? It’s possible it was not a complete tear but needed to be reconnected for a football player….I think this situation was a real gray area and we were told what we needed to know.

  5. Lunatic Fringe 07/26/2007 at 10:12 AM #

    I agree with Mr. O…we tend to only remember the “bad” drops…

    I took a look at the two game logs for Ant Hill and Greg Olsen to compare complete and incomplete passes. I realize it is not an exact science since there could be MANY different reasons the pass was incomplete, but I still think it proves the point.

    Ant Hill caught 46* catches last year and had 22 incomplete passes that were thrown in his direction. Greg Olsen had 38 catches last year and had 21 incomplete passes that were thrown in his direction.

    Ant Hill: 46 of 68 = 67.6%
    Greg Olsen: 38 of 59 = 64.4%

    I would say 68% is a pretty good success rate considering that some of those “drops” were likely due to QB errant passes, throwing the ball away, and etc…

  6. primacyone 07/26/2007 at 10:21 AM #

    Not to go off topic here, but I think we need to spend some time on John Wall – the 2009 Basketball PG prospect from Raleigh’s Word of God Academy. I say spend some time on him, because with him being in Raleigh, somebody who comes on here has got to know something about him.

    He continue’s to dominate in summer camps and appears headed to five star status if not the #1 ranking for the position.

    Does anybody know anything about him? I’m assuming if both us and Wake are hot on him, he’s got the grades? Does anyone know anything about Word of God Academy?

    http://ncstate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=694737

  7. lush 07/26/2007 at 10:40 AM #

    how many actual drops were there?

    I know that this is the college game, but TO lead the the NFL in drops last year with 13. 13 drops in i believe 17 games. i would venture to say that he was thrown to a lot more often than 68 times.

    im not trying to rag on ant hill, but 22 drops would be a lot, and i can understand anyone who thinks that is unnacceptable

  8. TNCSU 07/26/2007 at 11:26 AM #

    Primacyone,
    Word is that he’s been playing great in Vegas. We’ve been recruiting him a while, but is just now getting national attention. Hopefully, he’ll keep the Pack at the top of his choices. Interesting info is that supposedly he was “cut” from his H.S. team only last year, so he’s got a point to prove I would think.

  9. Lunatic Fringe 07/26/2007 at 11:33 AM #

    “Drops” is not really a stat that I think is officially tracked so you have to make your best judgment off the stats that are available. You should not get caught up too much in the actual “incompletion” number.

    The point of the comment was that Ant Hill had a better “reception percentage” (he caught the ball more often when it was thrown in his general direction) than Greg Olsen who was widely considered the best TE in the NCAA last season.

  10. Lunatic Fringe 07/26/2007 at 11:35 AM #

    BTW…the * in my original post was because I found a discrepancy in the game log that showed an extra catch for Ant that was not in the stats column.

  11. Mike 07/26/2007 at 11:40 AM #

    Posted this in the Glennon post, guess I should have read this subject first.

    Hate to lose Hill’s blocking, but I am excited about Stone at TE. Stone is a great athlete, and opens up another offensvie threat. Stone is a football player, which is why he moved to TE – he wnats to play regardless of where. Have to give him credit for that and as a result, I think he will make a good TE. Plus, we know he can catch the ball.

    Imagine this, the TE comes in motion, takes a direct snap, drops back and fires a pass to a streaking WR all alone. Wait, Chow is no longer here, and I also remembered who the tight end is 🙂

  12. lush 07/26/2007 at 12:37 PM #

    analysts talk about dropped passes all the time. I remember john clayton saying that koren robinson led the league in drops in 04, but i could not find an official stat. i wonder where they get there info…..

    a drop should be recorded as a ball that you touch with your hands but do not catch. and since there seem to be a lot of people who remember hill for dropping crucial passes (td’s, 1st downs, etc) i dont think it matters what his “reception percentage” is.

    who cares what the QB’s completion % is if he’s throwing 1-4 yard completions on first and 2nd down and never completes a pass on third? never throws a touchdown?

  13. lush 07/26/2007 at 12:52 PM #

    anybody seen espn’s rankings of the college football programs in the last decade?

    http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/storyid=2947981&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

    they’ve done 26-100 with all but duke, unc and wake in the top 43.

    26-gt
    31-cu
    36-md
    40-ncsu
    43-uva
    60-wake
    67-unc
    115-duke

    i guess this means expansion was a good thing for ACC football, considering only the newest 4 teams are in the top 25.

  14. McPete 07/26/2007 at 1:47 PM #

    http://www.newsobserver.com/

    oh no. more bad news. OL McCuller arrested. i think he was projected as a starter. i wonder if TOB would kick him off the team for this.

  15. packpigskinfan23 07/26/2007 at 1:53 PM #

    primacy- this Wall kid looks interesting… but if TNCSU is right, and he was cut from his HS team… I have a feeling it was for something other then skill.

    just something to think about

  16. TNCSU 07/26/2007 at 2:49 PM #

    This is an article from Rivals.com about Wall – it doesn’t give the impression that he was cut for any reason other than the coach didn’t think he was good enough, so I don’t know that I would assume any “off-the-court” issues. BTW, who’s the coach at Broughton H.S.?

    It is hard to believe that Raleigh rising junior John Wall was cut from his high school team last year.

    Wall has attended three high schools in the last two years. He started off at Garner High School, before transferring to Broughton for his sophomore year. However, he was devastated after getting cut at his new high school.

    Wall transferred to Word of God in Raleigh when the shock wore off. Months later, he is one of the elite point guards in the Class of 2009 after emerging at the Reebok U Camp in Philadelphia last week.

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    “When I first got cut, I was upset and crying and a little bit,” Wall said. “I just made it a goal that I wasn’t going to get cut again and worked on my game even more, so I could make a team when I tried out for a team again.”

    Ohio State and Boston College both watched Wall at Reebok U and have subsequently joined the race for the speedy point guard. North Carolina State, Clemson, Virginia and Virginia Tech round out his list, but he hasn’t received any offers yet.

    “All of them are looking at me pretty good, but I haven’t gotten any offers yet,” Wall said. “I know that I can’t stop working hard.”

    The 6-foot-2 Wall was named one of the top five players at Reebok U by Rivals.com’s Justin Young, earning praise for his end-to-end speed and ability to play under control and involve his teammates.

    “My mid-range game was working and I was getting to the basket, passing, playing defense and hustling,” Wall said. “That is what everyone is talking about, how well I did at the camp and how I surprised a bunch of people.

    “The camp has really helped with my confidence and I’m motivated to work on my game even more. I know people are probably thinking I was a fluke, and that I just did it that weekend.”

    Wall, born and raised in Raleigh, has grown up watching ACC basketball, with NC State, North Carolina, Clemson, Virginia and Wake Forest as his favorite teams.

    “It feels great to be looked at by NC State and other ACC schools,” Wall said. “It’s going to be an interesting decision. It’ll be a good one because a lot of the schools play the style that I like to play. It won’t be an easy decision, it is going to be hard.”

    Wall and his D-One traveling team will be heading to Las Vegas on Thursday. After that, they’ll probably be heading to the Best of Summer in the Los Angeles area.

    Wall is also motivated to do well in the classroom, which will be aided by settling down at his new high school.

    “I really didn’t have anyone to push me my ninth grade year (academically),” said Wall, who has a older and younger sister. “I needed someone to push me to keep my grades up. I don’t want to get below a B this year.

    “On the court, I want to eventually make it easy for my mom (Frances Pulley) and make it to the NBA one day.”

  17. Lunatic Fringe 07/26/2007 at 6:18 PM #

    Ant Hill vs. Greg Olsen

    Total Rec %: 67.6% 64.4%
    3rd Down %: 71.4% 38.1%
    Red Zone %: 28.6% 33.3%

    The numbers above shows the % the ball was caught when it was thrown in the players general direction broken down into Total Receptions, 3rd Down %, and Red Zone %.

    I realize that recieving percentage is not a true judge of the number of drops by a player, but this is the best data available. We can compare it to Olsen (31st pick in draft and considered the best TE in the country) to add even more perspective to the data.

    The redzone percentage is not great at all, but it was not that great for Olsen either; however, in the high pressure situations of needing to get a third down Ant was almost twice as effective as Olsen.

    The point is…the bad things tend to stick with us…as Mr O stated…

    “He didn’t drop an “obscene” amount of balls or “scores” of passes. With Hill, the few balls he dropped were the only ones people remembered. Lots of players/coaches deserved criticism for last season, but of the players Hill was the absolute last guy that should have been criticized because he was by far our best player.”

  18. bTHEredterror 07/27/2007 at 4:01 PM #

    My heart goes out to Anthony Hill. I am optimistic Stone will provide a good receiving threat in the middle of the field, but nowhere near what Hill would have been. As long as the other TE are solid blockers we can run packages to cover the loss, but that takes away a lot from the playcalling. Stone has to be able to block and Kushner has to produce in the passing game, at least as a pass blocker, or teams will be able to key and matchup a little more easily. This may rush Bryan onto the field if either struggles and he shows out in Fall camp. I hope the surgery goes well and the Rehab can start soon, it would be best for Hill to at least participate in running drills in Spring ball to try and get his game back on track.

  19. beowolf 07/30/2007 at 12:16 AM #

    Just FYI, but Michael Jordan was cut from his HS team as a sophomore. Which just goes to show that sometimes coaches make bewildering cuts — OR that some athletes internalize getting cut and work harder than ever to improve.

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