Better Know a Buckeye: Justin Hilliard

The eleventh installment of the latest rendition of the Better Know a Buckeye series, which profiles the incoming true freshmen, continues with a profile of Justin Hilliard. Justin Hilliard occupies a special position in this recruiting class as the class' highest-rated prospect. Per 247Sports' rankings, he is the class' only five-star addition and arguably the most decorated prospect in the recruiting class.

Justin Hilliard committed to Ohio State on the same day as Jashon Cornell, with whom he bonded on the recruiting trail. Like Jashon Cornell, who was profiled last week, Hilliard was thought to be anything but a recruiting lock. Notre Dame may have been a likely destination through 2013 and early 2014, and as with Jashon Cornell, Iowa may have a surprising front-runner for his services as well. Justin Hilliard's older brother, C.J., signed with Iowa in 2014 as a tailback prospect. Ohio State's courtship of Hilliard intensified in the late spring and early summer of last year, resulting in Cornell and Hilliard making a mutual decision to commit to Ohio State on the same day.

I retell Justin Hilliard's recruitment below and discuss the reasons for his commitment. Thereafter, I provide a scouting report of Hilliard, who will walk into a linebacker rotation that has some established starters on top but uncertainty in the depth chart below them. I project whether Hilliard may redshirt in 2015 before concluding with some highlight film of Hilliard for you to watch.

HIS RECRUITMENT

Much like Cornell last week, who debuted in ESPN's first 2015 class evaluations in 2013 as the class' top-rated prospect, Hilliard was always going to be a high-profile recruit in 2015. He became visible to coaches and recruiting analysts across the country in the spring and summer of 2013. Iowa, which was the favorite at the time to secure his brother C.J., was the first offer at the end of March. More offers followed while Hilliard made some unofficial visits across the country in the spring. Arkansas offered at the end of April. Nebraska, Miami, and Georgia Tech offered about a week later.

He had acquired more offers from Boston College, Kentucky, Michigan State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Penn State, and South Carolina before he participated in a one-day camp at Ohio State on June 9, 2013. Impressed with what it saw from Hilliard during that camp, Ohio State threw its hat into the race for Hilliard's commitment with a scholarship offer. This coincided with Hilliard's second visit to Ohio State's campus in a month. He did say he appreciated the offer from the in-state flagship university, but at the time the offer did not separate Ohio State from the pack.

If anything, Ohio State may have been in a position to get lost in the deck. Notre Dame offered two days later. Michigan offered a week later after he attended Ann Arbor for a summer camp. Florida State followed at the end of July. Clemson and Alabama offered in the fall.

Much like Jashon Cornell, Hilliard looked like anything but an Ohio State lean by this point. While Urban Meyer has made great strides in making the Queen City a point of emphasis for in-state recruiting, the area has no particular loyalty to the Buckeyes. Hilliard sensed this as well. While dismissing Cincinnati as "anti-Ohio State" is a simplistic way of capturing the phenomenon, the confluence of other sports priorities in Cincinnati makes the city and the surrounding area lack the same region-wide affinity for the Buckeyes seen even in nearby Dayton. 

Ohio State tends to lose many of these recruits to Notre Dame or Michigan, both of which recruit the area well. Through the summer and fall, these two looked to be the favorites for Hilliard. These were his most frequent visits. Iowa, which had secured a verbal commitment from his brother by this time, was also still in the race.

Through the early winter of 2014, Ohio State's situation looked no better. Hilliard was making junior day visits to programs like Oklahoma and Notre Dame and visited Michigan again in March. Ohio State did secure an unofficial visit on March 21, but this was followed by a visit to Alabama and another visit to Notre Dame. Alabama, which sent an assistant coach to visit Hilliard a few weeks after his unofficial visit in Tuscaloosa, may have been the new horse in the race. All told, Ohio State looked to be losing its position with Hilliard.

It was a May 17 visit that turned the tide in favor of the Buckeyes. Less than a week after that visit, Hilliard announced a top five that included Ohio State.

TOP 5 pic.twitter.com/wsBgxa8DUM

— Justin Hilliard (@JHilliard47) May 23, 2014

Two weeks after Hilliard's visit, Jashon Cornell had his breakthrough visit to Ohio State. Cornell and Hilliard, who had come to know each other through the recruitment process, began talking about playing college football together. This, among other reasons, is why Ohio State appeared to have surged in front of the pack for Hilliard's verbal commitment. At this point, the only other conceivable option was Notre Dame. Cornell had his mind made up entering the summer.

Hilliard took one last visit to Notre Dame on June 21 before announcing that he would commit on July 2. He had made up his mind.

HIS COMMITMENT

On July 2, Justin Hilliard committed to Ohio State as the eleventh member of its 2015 recruiting class. He committed the same day as Jashon Cornell.

In a community interview with Eleven Warriors, Hilliard discussed the moment he knew he wanted to commit to Ohio State.

"Over the last two years I’ve visited Ohio State eight times but I didn’t know 100-percent I wanted to (be a Buckeye) until my last visit. During that last visit we talked zero numbers, no depth charts, no academic talks, no campus tours – nothing. I simply spent time with the players and coaches, spent time meeting their families and talking about everything except football," Hilliard shared. "On that visit I really learned what the Buckeye family was about, even more than I had before. The "Dream '14" had always shown me love but just seeing them in person and seeing how close they all were really attracted me to the Buckeye family. After that visit I was 150-percent Buckeye."

WHERE HE EXCELS

There is a lot to like from watching Justin Hilliard's tape. Seeing the name associated with his highlight film is comforting too. St. Xavier is one of the elite programs in the state and regularly plays some of the best competition in the state and surrounding area. Last year alone, St. Xavier played Brentwood Academy (in Tennessee), Colerain, Elder, Archbishop Moeller, St. Ignatius, and (Indianapolis) Cathedral. Moeller, a state semifinalist, beat St. Xavier twice (including in the playoffs). Cathedral, which produced current Buckeye wide receiver Terry McLaurin, won the state championship in Indiana. St. Xavier beat them 27-0.

In other words, the plays you see from Hilliard are coming against some of the best competition available.

Hilliard's greatest individual-level attribute may be how fast, and how well, he attacks. His first few steps are elite. His closing speed may be even better. More than that, Hilliard parlays his athleticism to making sound football plays. He is a sure tackler who is able to strafe and move laterally, despite a sturdy frame. Many of the plays you will see of Hilliard have him changing direction, planting, and tackling through a ball-carrier in just a few steps. This is a difficult attribute to acquire and Hilliard looks like a natural at it.

Furthermore, I like how instinctive Hilliard is. Look carefully at some of the plays you will see. They routinely involve Hilliard attacking aggressively down hill. Opposing offensive linemen and tight ends know who he is and know to pick him up. However, Hilliard does more than stay blocked. Watch how he moves to fight off blocks. This is more than just length; in fact, Hilliard is not a "long" prospect at all. Hilliard adjusts to the gap he sees and fights off direct blocks. Add in the proverbial "nose for the football", a difficult thing for linebackers to master, and Hilliard looks like he could contribute to Ohio State soon upon arrival.

MUST WORK ON

Hilliard is not a long prospect. I've seen some services list him at 6-foot-2, but he's more accurately a flat 6-foot-0. He has a college-ready frame right now, which means he's probably near the upper limit of what he will look like on a college playing field. Absent great length and with a frame that is near "maxed out", how Hilliard adjusts to the bigger competition will be worth watching. His lateral agility is good, but he may become a bit stiffer if he gets any bigger. He basically needs to maintain the frame of a weakside linebacker.

That said, the position he will likely play at Ohio State (if he plays) will involve much more pass coverage than we have seen of Hilliard. This is a standard criticism to lob at all incoming linebackers, since high school football is much more run-intensive than college. There is not a lot of film on Hilliard of him in coverage to suggest this is something other than an uncertainty to Hilliard at the moment.

REDSHIRT?

My hunch is that Hilliard is too athletic to keep off the field as a true freshman. Barring some unforeseen development, Hilliard is a special teamer at the least. The players at the top of the linebacker pecking order may be set, but depth behind them is an open question. He may find some snaps there as well.

HIGHLIGHT FILM

The first video embedded below is from Hilliard's senior year, though it is only two minutes long. The video after that is from his junior year, which is more than eight minutes in length.