Cowboys second-round draft pick Trysten Hill, a defensive tackle from Central Florida, will be the steal of the 2019 NFL Draft.
That's not me saying that. It is former NFL general manager and executive Michael Lombardi. He said it on his new podcast "GM Shuffle."
I was able to cover Lombardi when I covered the Cleveland Browns in late 1994 and 1995, when they played their last season in Northeast Ohio and moved to Baltimore. He was always engaging to chat with.
Lombardi also worked for Hall of Famers Al Davis of the Raiders and Bill Walsh in San Francisco, and reunited with soon-to-be Hall of Famer Bill Belichick in New England.
This is what he said about the 6-foot-3-inch tall, 308-pound Hill on "GM Shuffle" after the NFL Draft in Nashville:
“I love Trysten Hill from Central Florida. Now here's a kid that played for Scott Frost when he was there and 2017, you put his tape on, you're saying, 'Wow that guy's really a good player.' You're saying, 'Holy sh$! that guy's really good.'
He wanted to transfer to Nebraska. (Scott Frost left UCF to become the head coach of Nebraska after the 2017 season). But like most defensive lineman, didn't have it fully planned out with a lot of attention to detail, you know. So once he realized it was going to cost him a year and he was going to have to sit out a year... all that, he come back.
Well, he comes back (to UCF) and pisses off most of the coaches. OK. Then his weight goes way up. His weight goes up to like 330, he can't play at that weight so they get him back down. He starts one game for them. Not because he's not talented, because they're trying to make a statement about their program, right. Josh Heupel the head coach at Central Florida.
This kid's really talented. You get this kid with Marinelli in their defensive front -- you get him going there, I think that can be a hell of a pick.”
Note that Hill started all 26 games for the Golden Knights under former head coach Scott Frost, who left for Nebraska before the 2018 season, so the Cowboys decided to listen to Frost and draft the defensive tackle. Hill declared for the draft after his junior season at UCF. He played in 12 games in 2018, totaling 36 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks. He finished his career with 71 tackles, 20 tackles for loss and 6.0 sacks.
