77 ° Fair  ·  Home · Archives · Go Hogs! · Blogs · Videos · Contact Us Search: Go

Fayetteville, Ark.

logo2.gif

SPONSORS

ADVERTISEMENT



ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT



ADVERTISEMENT

Location: WholeHogSports > Story     |     TAGGED: football (2)

Tumble to draft’s 7th round motivates former Razorback

Published: Thursday, May 01, 2008 PRINT E-MAIL

FORT SMITH — Arkansas fullback Peyton Hillis heard before the NFL Draft that he could be a thirdround choice and wouldn’t fall out of the fourth round.

He spent an agonizing couple of hours Sunday waiting to hear his name called. It finally came in the seventh round when he was taken by the Denver Broncos as the 227 th pick, 26 spots from the end of the draft.

“Things happen, and I guess teams had some doubts and I just sat back and took it,” said Hillis, who was in Fort Smith to receive the Chism Reed Award given by the Fort Smith Razorback Club. “It was a real nerve-racking day.

“ I think a lot of teams are going to be really upset that they passed me up.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Hillis finished a productive four-year career as a Razorback with 961 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns, as well as 118 receptions for 1, 195 yards and 11 more touchdowns.

Hillis, 6-1, 240, apparently fell victim to the trend of the disappearing fullback from NFL rosters, but he has hope he can latch on in Denver’s fullback-friendly offense.

“Everything happens for a reason, and God has blessed me enough to go to Denver, where I think the offense will fit me just right, where I think I can improve and succeed in that offense,” Hillis said.

The Conway native said he has discussed his possibilities with Denver Coach Mike Shanahan.

“When they have a successful fullback, it seems like they win games,” Hillis said. “[Shanahan ] expects me to go in and fill that role, and I’m looking forward to it.

“ It’s a West Coast offense, so you’ll catch the ball a lot, move out of the backfield a lot, be the one-back on third-down sets and things like that.”

Shanahan called Hillis a value as a seventh-round selection.

“It’s hard to find fullbacks in the NFL, and we hope we found one out of Arkansas,” Shanahan said. “He’s very strong, very physical, and I think he’ll fit in well into our blocking scheme. We feel very fortunate that he was there.

“ He’s an excellent blocker, and we’ll wait and see how he fits in.”

The Broncos list no other fullbacks besides Hillis on their 89-man roster, but their depth chart lists Cecil Sapp, a sixth-year pro out of Colorado State, and Mike Bell, a third-year pro out of Arizona, at fullback on their Web site.

Hillis has already circled Denver’s season opener: a Monday night matchup on Sept. 8 against the Oakland Raiders and rookie running back Darren McFadden, Hillis’ Arkansas teammate for three years.

Hillis will attend his first minicamp for the Broncos on May 15.

“Hopefully I can go up there and produce,” he said. “I feel like I’ve got a chip on my shoulder, something to prove right now, and I really want to prove it, so people better watch out.” Peyton Hillis glance POSITION Fullback HEIGHT / WEIGHT 6-1, 240 pounds DRAFTED Seventh round by the Denver Broncos NOTABLE Finished career at Arkansas with 961 yards rushing, 12 rushing touchdowns, 118 receptions, 1, 195 yards receiving, 11 receiving touchdowns.

recent_blogs.jpg

Question of the Day: How many points will Arkansas score?

Jul 01, 2009

We're always thinking of questions here at WholeHogSports.com, and with two-a-days a little more than a month away, we've got plenty to ask the Razorb ...

[+] More of this author's blog

dots_under_blog.gif

Brandon Marcello

Petrino would rather be 'grinding away' at work than Tweeting

Jun 30, 2009

Bobby Petrino isn't ready or convinced he'll join Twitter, the popular social networking Web site,  any time soon. In fact, he'd muc ...

[+] More of this author's blog

dots_under_blog.gif

Brandon Marcello

More basketball recruiting class analysis

Jun 28, 2009

We've got a couple of basketball-related stories on WholeHogSports.com today. Tom Murphy of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ha ...

[+] More of this author's blog

dots_under_blog.gif

Brandon Marcello

LB Battle arrested again

Jun 28, 2009

Linebacker Khiry Battle has followed up his arrest for a failure to appear last month with an arrest earlier this morning on charges ...

[+] More of this author's blog

dots_under_blog.gif

Brandon Marcello

New turf, end zones at Razorback Stadium

Jun 27, 2009

Northwest Arkansas Times staff photographer Andy Shupe got a shot for us this afternoon of the ongoing work on the new synthetic turf ...

[+] More of this author's blog

dots_under_blog.gif

Brandon Marcello

Baseball America Poll

Updated May 20

1. UC Irvine 40-12

2. LSU 41-14

3. Arizona St 41-11

4. CS Fullerton 38-14

5. Texas 38-12

6. North Carolina 41-14

7. Ole Miss 40-15

8. Oklahoma 40-16

9. Florida 38-18

10. TCU 35-15

11. Rice 35-15

12. Florida St 40-14

13. Clemson 39-17

14. Georgia Tech 34-15

15. East Carolina 41-15

16. Virginia 39-12

17. Kansas St 39-15

18. Alabama 37-17

19. Cal Poly 35-17

20. Louisville 40-14

21. Minnesota 35-15

22. Elon 37-14

23. Miami Fl 35-18

24. Missouri 32-23

25. South Carolina 37-19

Who is the best defensive lineman in Arkansas' history?


Dave "Hawg" Hanner

Wayne Martin

Jimmy Walker

Dan Hampton

Loyd Phillips

Vote

Arkansas Razorbacks' 2009 Baseball Schedule

Feb. 20

Washington St. (DH)

W 7-5

Feb. 20

Washington St. (DH)

W 4-2

Feb. 22

Washington St.

W 4-3

Feb. 24

Kansas

L 3-9

Feb. 25

Kansas

W 9-8

Feb. 27

Western Illinois

W 8-7

Feb. 28

Western Illinois

     6:00 pm

Mar. 1

Western Illinois

     6:00 pm

Mar. 3

Valparaiso

W 7-3

Mar. 4

Valparaiso

W 9-6

Mar. 6

California

W 5-4

Mar. 7

California

L 6-12

Mar. 8

California

W 13-3

Mar. 10

@ Centenary

L 3-8

Mar. 11

@ Centenary

     6:00 pm

Mar. 13

Florida

W 11-4

Mar. 14

Florida

W 8-4

Mar. 15

Florida

W 4-2

Mar. 17

Nebraska

W 7-3

Mar. 18

Nebraska

L 4-7

Mar. 20

@ Auburn

W 3-2

Mar. 21

@ Auburn

W 10-6

Mar. 22

@ Auburn

W 12-6

Mar. 25

Missouri St.

W 10-0

Mar. 27

Mississippi St.

W 20-9

Mar. 28

Mississippi St.

W 5-1

Mar. 29

Mississippi St.

L 4-12

Mar. 31

@ Missouri St.

W 2-0

Apr. 3

@ South Carolina

W 6-4

Apr. 4

@ South Carolina

L 1-9

Apr. 5

@ South Carolina

W 7-4

Apr. 7

Arizona St.

W 7-3

Apr. 8

Arizona St.

W 8-7

Apr. 10

Vanderbilt

L 0-9

Apr. 11

Vanderbilt

L 6-13

Apr. 12

Vanderbilt

     1:05 pm

Apr. 14

La.-Monroe

L 2-3

Apr. 15

La.-Monroe

W 10-9

Apr. 17

@ Georgia

L 3-4

Apr. 18

@ Georgia

L 3-4

Apr. 19

@ Georgia

W 2-0

Apr. 21

@ Oral Roberts

W 9-6

Apr. 24

@ Tennessee

W 9-3

Apr. 25

@ Tennessee

L 4-5

Apr. 26

@ Tennessee

W 15-8

Apr. 28

Oklahoma

W 8-7

May. 1

LSU

W 11-4

May. 2

LSU

L 0-5

May. 3

LSU

L 3-4

May. 8

@ Alabama

L 1-2

May. 9

@ Alabama

L 6-8

May. 10

@ Alabama

L 5-6

May. 12

Oral Roberts

W 3-2

May. 14

Ole Miss

L 5-7

May. 15

Ole Miss

L 3-9

May. 16

Ole Miss

L 3-16