Blazing speed and elite athleticism vaulted Anthony Hill Jr. up draft boards, sparking first-round buzz and attracting serious NFL attention.
The NFL Combine presents college football's top talents with an opportunity to rise up teams draft boards before the Draft in April.
Texas linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. may have just done that with a fantastic first day of testing.
Hill's Thursday was highlighted by his blazing 4.51 40-yard dash time. That's moving for someone standing at 6-2, weighing 238 pounds.
He also graded out nicely in the jumping categories, recording a 37" vertical and a 10'5" broad jump, both in the top-10 among participating LBs.
Overall, Hill finished with a raw athletic score of 9.93 out of 10, ranking him 25th out of 3215 LBs since 1987.
He didn't participate in any on-field drills due to hamstring tightness after his 40-yard dash, according to AlexDunlapNFL. Hill is expected to complete those at the Longhorns pro day in Austin.
The LB from Denton, Texas, was already on a lot of NFL teams' radars, but his performance on Thursday only increased the buzz surrounding him.
Hill was seen by many as an early to mid-second round talent, but now he's given himself a shot at sneaking into the back end of the first round.
Before the draft, he was scheduled to meet with 22 teams, with organizations like the Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants reportedly very high on the middle linebacker.
However, another team that's emerging as a potential destination for Hill is his hometown team, the Dallas Cowboys.
While Dallas isn't scheduled to meet with him at the combine, Clarence Hill Jr reported that he is expected to meet with the team during a "private dinner" before his pro day.
It could be the Cowboys just doing their due diligence on a talented LB, or it could be a signal that there's some strong mutual interest between the two parties.
One thing is for sure - Hill makes lots of sense for Dallas.
The Cowboys had one of the league's worst defenses last season, with their LBs being a huge part of the problem.
Hill can plug a lot of the holes in the middle of their defense with his high motor, downhill and instinctual play style that made him one of the best LBs in college football.
The biggest issue is that Dallas' second first-round pick sits at 20, meaning it would likely have to spend some high draft capital on him.
Maybe Hill doesn't land with the Cowboys, but wherever he lands, he's bound to make a lot of noise and potentially become a franchise-altering player.