5 2020 Senior Bowl standouts 49ers may like for NFL Draft

No. 5: K.J. Hill, Wide Receiver, Ohio State

For those who aren’t very educated about the draft, there is one absolute about this year that should be treated as gospel.

This is a very stacked wide receiver class. This draft is to wide receivers what last year was to defensive linemen.

Just absolute talent everywhere. K.J. Hill has had a phenomenal Senior Bowl, had a phenomenal season, look a total stud on the field and even he may still not be a first round selection.

Hill looked incredible at the Senior Bowl. He caught everything thrown his way, is a dynamic route runner, can play both in the slot and outside and just came off a big senior season at Ohio State.

Somehow he played only 14 snaps in the Senior Bowl, leading one journalist to theorize that the Detroit Lions (the coaching staff for Hill at the Senior Bowl) had seen enough and didn’t want to showcase him to other teams. A bit of a conspiracy theory, but a reasonable one it must be said.

So why isn’t Hill considered a first-round prospect? Well he isn’t particularly physically impressive at 6-foot-0 and 192 pounds and unlike Gandy-Golden, he doesn’t have a big catch radius. He isn’t particularly quick, and as primarily a slot at Ohio State he ran a limited route tree (he ran it well, but teams like prospects that they don’t have to teach routes).

Hill did showcase some good separation from defensive backs in the Senior Bowl, it won’t be enough to completely erase concerns however.

That being said, Hill looks a big steal on the second day of the NFL Draft. He may have physical limitations, but someone like the 49ers won’t care about that especially as Hill wouldn’t need to start right away.

If the 49ers trade down from their first-round selections and decide to dip into the talented receiver pool, Hill could be a perfect complement to the size of Hurd, speed of Deebo and experience of Sanders by being the possession receiver for San Francisco.