Hello: Lavert Hill

[Isaiah Hole/247]

Michigan added a critical piece to its secondary and tallied a head-to-head win over Michigan State this morning when All-American Detroit King CB LaVert Hill announced his commitment to the Wolverines at the PSL Signing Day ceremony. The younger brother of senior safety Delano Hill joins top-100 prospect David Long to give the 2016 class a top-notch cornerback duo.

Hill originally committed to Penn State back in January of 2015. He was a consistent presence in Ann Arbor during the fall, however, and backed off that commitment in November. While MSU made a strong push for his signature, Hill couldn't pass up the chance to play with his brother, as well as his good friend Jourdan Lewis, who happens to be a very similar player.

GURU RATINGS

Hill is a four-star across the board and a top-100 prospect on two of the four recruiting sites. His rankings rose over the course of a strong senior year that culminated in a state title and an appearance in the Army All-American Game.

One reason Hill had to work his way up the rankings is his size: he's listed at 5'10", ~175 pounds on three of the four sites, while Rivals gives him an extra inch.

[Hit THE JUMP for the informative portion.]

SCOUTING

This is going to be a long one; I originally put together a Hello draft for Hill last April(!), and he's been scouted plenty since then. Scout's free evaluation provides a solid overview:

Evaluation

Has a natural knack for reading and jumping routes. Good, quick feet and ability to change directions. Technically sound and smooth in his backpedal and transition. Has the closing speed to makeup ground and break on passes. Must add size and strength. Solid wrap-up tackler, but must get stronger to improve in this area.

Strengths

• Coverage Awareness
• Hands
• Instincts

Areas to Improve

• Size

Hill has been a prominent local recruit since he entered high school. The Wolverine's Tim Sullivan compared him favorably to his older brother at the Sound Mind Sound Body camp following his freshman year ($):

Cass Tech is known as a factory for top-notch defensive backs, and Hill could be next. The younger brother of 2013 Michigan signee Delano Hill is smaller than big bro - he's about 5-10, 160 pounds - but may be almost as technically advanced coming out of his freshman year as Lano was entering his senior season. LaVert is also a natural ballhawk, and has a real knack for making plays - as demonstrated by multiple interceptions in one-on-one competition.

Sometimes Hill's desire to make plays can get the better of him. This occurred in the the 2014 Prep Kickoff Classic during an otherwise strong performance; that game against Oak Park was the subject of a Future Blue Originals post:

Hill had an up-and-down day, giving up a long touchdown when he got beat on a post route and compounded his error by diving for a pick, then bouncing back to make a couple very nice plays on the ball—he got hit with three pass interference calls on the night, but I thought two of them were highly questionable.

Oddly, Hill played a lot of soft coverage early in the game, and I don't think he was very comfortable doing so; he got caught a couple times peeking into the backfield instead of sticking with his man, though Oak Park's QB missed at least one opportunity to take advantage for a big play. When he started playing press man later in the game, he performed much better, running receivers' routes for them and making what I thought were good plays on the ball (the officials disagreed).

Hill's straight-line speed is solid for a corner, and I thought he showed good, fluid overall athleticism when playing man coverage. He needs to bring it a little harder on a snap-to-snap basis; it's still easy to see why he got an early offer from Michigan.

He had another slip-up on a goal-line slant against a good Dearborn Fordson squad, but The Wolverine's Brandon Brown was impressed by his overall body of work ($):

2016 cornerback Lavert Hill played an okay game. He was beat badly to the inside right before halftime on a slant near the goal line that resulted in a touchdown. As a highly-rated corner you can't allow that to happen. He needs some technique work and his work ethic will have to improve at the college level, but he's as talented as they come.

He shows great fluidityandmoves effortlessly. He's not the biggest corner out there, but like former-Technician and current Wolverine Jourdan Lewis, he has super quick feet and great hips which allow him to maintain his position. He rarely gets beat so being small isn't a big hinderance because he's always in the right spot.

Last March, Hill starred at the Adidas Top Ten Showcase in Illinois, topping 247's Steve Wiltfong's list of best performers:

Nobody was better than Penn State Top247 cornerback commit Lavert Hill. Ranked by 247Sports as the nation’s No. 14 cornerback and No. 4 player overall regardless of position in the state of Michigan, the Detroit (Mich.) King standout got the day started out right with a 4.35 40-yard dash, the second fastest time of the day.

Hill was then absolutely shut down during 1-on-1s at cornerback, displaying the quick feet, great hips and fluid athleticism he always shows.

The future Nittany Lion didn’t limit himself to just defense. He also took reps at wide receiver and toasted top cornerbacks in attendance. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Hill has good ball skills on top of his other talents.

Hill only took reps against other top prospects.

Scout analyst Allen Trieu's evaluated Hill when he committed to Penn State last February ($):

Hill has excellent positional skills. He has great feet, quickness and an understanding of the position. He is smart, recognizes routes well and jumps passes both because of his athleticism and his understanding of the game. He, despite not having great height, shows the timing and ball skills to challenge passes. He's a solid wrap-up tackler, but must get stronger to improve in this area. Despite not being a big corner, he can play up on the line because of his technique, but again, added strength will help him at the line of scrimmage against bigger receivers.

Hill had an outstanding camp season that led to a rise up the overall rankings. 247 moved him well within the top 100 after he dominated the Chicago regional for The Opening:

Hill doesn't have elite size but he's elite everywhere else. He clocked a 4.41 in the 40 showed incredible instincts and ball skills and locked up an invite to the U.S. Army Bowl with an outstanding performance. Hill is committed to Penn State and he's now ranked No. 60 overall.

Trieu evaluated his performance from the finals of The Opening itself:

Hill has had a dominant run of spring and summer camps. While his Opening performance cannot be classified as being as dominant as those other camps, he still showed he belonged among the nation's best. Even when passes were caught on him, he was right in the receiver's hip pocket. In 7-on-7, his awareness and instincts for coming off his man to make plays or to break on short passes and tag backs out of the backfield showed he had good football acumen in addition to his physical skills. The main concern with him is size. Receivers were able to outbody him for a couple balls, but we believe he still has the instincts, ball skills and makeup speed (4.52 forty) to be a top flight cover man for Penn State.

Trieu caught Hill again when King played De La Salle last fall; while he had a slip-up in coverage, he showed he has the short memory you want in a cover corner:

Hill, a Penn State commit, was beaten once on a double move that he played aggressively on. He rebounded the very next play when they tried to test him deep and later, when he was tested again, came away with two interceptions. He's a good athlete who can play on an island and he has good ball skills. De La Salle ran inside a lot, so we didn't get to see him much in run support, that's something we will look to see later in the year.

At the Army Bowl, 247 named Hill as the West team's second-best defensive performer on the first day of practice:

The Detroit King standout earned a lot of praise from his peers and coaches. While Jones was tested, Hill was a blanked as a lockdown corner with elite feet, great speed and quicks. He competed on every rep giving the quarterback no option on his side of the field. 

TMI's Eugene Hankerson thought Hill performed even better on day two:

LaVert Hill had also bounced back well and was much better in his off coverage technique and footwork. That’s the area of Hill’s game where there is the most room for growth.  The Motor City star is an excellent press corner. There aren’t many better in the country. He has great speed, terrific hips, and cat-like quickness.  All of those things aid him in sticking with receivers when he lines up in their faces.  But he didn’t look as instinctive when playing off.  I thought he lined up too far off the ball Monday, giving receivers too much freedom to get into their routes.  He was much more aggressive and physical Tuesday and did a much better job of throwing off the QB-to-WR timing. 

Hankerson's analysis jives with what I've seen from Hill in a couple of live viewings; he's very comfortable playing in a receiver's grill, but when he plays softer coverage he's prone to gambling or taking himself out of position by getting caught looking in the backfield.

ESPN provides the most detail I've found on Hill's run support:

Not a physical edge setter versus the run but will come quickly and make the low cut tackle. As a productive zone defender, he will need to continue physically develop to remain effective in those schemes at the college level.

Hill is a football player; he may lack ideal size measurables but makes up for it with coveted intangibles and competitiveness. Really understands the nuances at the position and with continued physical development this guy should a be an effective cover corner at the next level.

Always good to confirm that he is, in fact, a football player.

I'll give the last word to Hill's former defensive coordinator at Cass Tech:

“[Jourdan Lewis] is pretty damn good,” Jermain Crowell said. He coached Lewis at Detroit Cass Tech and has worked with Hill and many other highly-rated defensive backs over the last decade. “Vert is more athletic than JD. He’s faster than JD with them being the same age coming out of high school. His vertical is better. But JD has always had that edge, he doesn’t care who you are, he’s coming at you. JD will line up against a seventh grader and treat him like he’s the best receiver in college.

“Lavert might not necessarily do that. He rises to the challenge. He wants to go against the best of the best to prove himself. You have to be more consistent. Once his consistency gets there he’s going to be unreal.”

I really like the Jourdan Lewis comparison. Hill's not a big guy, and he won't ever be an imposing physical presence, but he's got more than enough athleticism and feel for the game to be a shutdown corner. Lewis had his hiccups playing a little too aggressively in high school, as well. If Hill can bring his best on every snap, he's capable of replicating Lewis' current success, especially in a press-heavy scheme.

OFFERS

Hill holds offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Clemson, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisville, Maryland, Miami (YTM), Michigan State, Mizzou, NC State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio State, Pitt, Purdue, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA, USC, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

HIGH SCHOOL

Hill attended Cass Tech until his senior season, when he transferred to Detroit King. Neither school needs an introduction here.

STATS

Hill picked off 12 passes, returning three for touchdowns, during his senior season; he also caught 33 passes for 786 yards and nine TDs as a receiver.

FAKE 40 TIME

Hill has a verified 4.41 40, which gets zero FAKEs out of five. He's one of the faster players in the country, as he proved several times during the last camp cycle.

VIDEO

Senior highlights:

Junior highlights and single-game reels can be found on his Hudl page.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

While Michigan should be set at cornerback with Jourdan Lewis and Jeremy Clark returning as starters, as well as Channing Stribling, Hill has the talent to see the field right away—with Lewis and Clark set to graduate after 2016, it wouldn't surprise at all to see Hill (and David Long) get some playing time as a true freshman to prepare him to compete for a starting job as a sophomore. The only 2017 returner who's seen any time at all at cornerback is Brandon Watson; there's a good chance Hill and Long will be the starting duo as early as their second year.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Hill is in it.