When Kylin Hill begins his sophomore season in a few weeks, he’ll do so a more polished version of himself and with added muscle than the guy the Bulldogs saw last year.
Not that last year was bad. Hill averaged 5 yards per carry and scored a pair of touchdowns in his debut season as a Bulldog. He thinks he can do much better now though now that his feet are wet with college football experience.
“When I first touched the field last year, I had to get used to the speed with guys faster than me and guys stronger than me,” Hill said. “Now I’m just so used to it that it feels like football all over again.”
Hill’s physical transformation is well documented. When his new position coach Charles Huff arrived, Hill asked him what he had to do to earn more carries alongside incumbent starter Aeris Williams. Huff said he needed to be much more explosive.
Hill weighed over 220 pounds when he ran for 393 yards on 78 carries as a freshman. That’s still five yards per carry at a weight Huff considers to be too heavy. In Joe Moorhead’s offensive system, though, the running backs need to be versatile athletes.
Hill and Williams combined for 20 catches in 2017. Under Moorhead’s tutelage, Penn State’s Saquon Barkley had 54 of his own. Barkley often lined up as a receiver – similar in fashion to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Le’Veon Bell — and burned linebackers who were unexpectedly forced to cover him on a whim.
He says he feels lean and more explosive. His weight is around 210 pounds during training camp, and he looks dynamic in position drills. Huff commends Hill for taking his advice, and Hill is fortunate for doing so.
“The weight I lost was very much needed to get me where I am right now,” Hill said.
You don’t have to look far to find someone who believes Hill is a special player.
In fact, the guy that’ll probably be just ahead of Hill on the depth chart — Williams — is a firm believer that an already-good Hill has become even more dangerous.
“He has really developed as a player,” said Williams, who was one of the SEC’s top running backs last season, rushing for 1,107 yards and six touchdowns on 236 carries. “He’s better at everything — blocking, running and with his vision. He explodes through the tackle and stuff like that. He’s going to be a great running back, just like I’ve been telling everyone.”
Probably no one is rooting harder for Hill than Williams. If both guys are productive, that lessens the burden on each other.
