2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Nebraska CB Tommi Hill

From now until the 2025 NFL Draft, we will scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top 10 picks, down to Day 3 selections and priority undrafted free agents. Today, a scouting report on Nebraska CB Tommi Hill.

#6 Tommi Hill/CB Nebraska – 6002, 210 pounds (Senior)

Measurements

THE GOOD

– Great size with long arms and plenty of muscle
– Physical, hands-on cornerback capable of jamming and rerouting receivers off the line
– Shows quick close on the ball out of his pedal
– Good athlete and runs well
– Can use length well to impact the catch point
– Wide receiver background shown in his ball skills, catches ball cleanly and makes plays beyond breakups
– Supports run and comes downhill with aggressive, active against the ground game and flashes hit power
– Wore variety of hats and assignments, asked to do bit of everything in defensive scheme and experience at both corner spots and bit of slot work
– Has fluid hips in his turn
– Traits and upside, has skillset to be a strong special teamer/coverage player while possessing minor kick return value

The Bad

– Not a ton of starting/playing experience
– Inconsistent technique overall
– Footwork can get messy and needs to show more coordination/balance in bail technique
– Eyes get locked on quarterback and prone to getting beat over the top
– Guesses and gambles too much and often late to open his hips or opens early guessing at route
– Took lumps in coverage with moments of ugly tape, battled and tried to play through injuries but was a mess and picked on
– Less explosive at 90-degree angle than 45-degree out of pedal
– Needs to be consistent tackler to get runner down
– Lack of 2024 production

Bio

– Turns 23 in March
– 16 career starts on defense
– Spent 2021 season at Arizona State before transferring to Nebraska for 2022 season
– Career: 73 tackles (1 for a loss), 14 PDs and 5 INTs
– 2024: 21 tackles (0.5 for a loss), 1 TD and 1 INT (limited to seven games due to foot injury)
– Attempted to play through and was eventually shut down by ruptured plantar fasciitis that caused him to leave multiple games early
– Had 4 INTs in 2023
– 22 career kick returns for 20.2-yard average across 2021-2023 seasons
– Bounced between playing CB and WR until 2024, came to school as a CB, switched to WR mid-way through 2022, split time between WR and CB in 2023 before moving full-time to CB mid-season
– Never caught a pass as a WR at Nebraska
– Four-star recruit from Orlando, Florida, chose Arizona State over Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, and many other power programs
– Reason for transfer not entirely clear, possibly due to ASU DBs Coach being placed on administrative leave after Hill arrived
– Reportedly had effort/temper issues at Arizona State, including getting into scuffle with teammate and being away from practice for “several days”
– Wore No. 2, No. 31, and No. 6 while at Nebraska, changing jerseys every year
– Dealt with difficult childhood; mom was addicted to drugs and had multiple jail stints while family consistently moved around, causing Hill to live with uncle in Florida; also lived with a teammate’s family late in high school
– Fell behind educationally and essentially held back two years during grade school before catching up through IEP in high school
– Father was semi-absent and died in a motorcycle crash in March 2019; Hill has his dad’s death date tattooed on his wrist
– WR/DB in high school, caught 85 career passes and had four interceptions senior year
– Logged 1,187 career college snaps (per PFF), but only 273 in 2024

Tape Breakdown

Tommi Hill looks the part of a modern NFL corner. Getting this close to the league is an accomplishment given all he’s been through during a difficult childhood outlined above. The tools and traits are there, and it wasn’t surprising to discover his extensive wide receiver background. He catches the ball like one, including a pick-six on a late throw by Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders, matching up well on Travis Hunter throughout the game (though he did not shadow him). Another interception negated by a defensive penalty also flashed his ability to pluck the football away.

His size and length make him an effective press corner unafraid of challenging receivers at the line of scrimmage and he’s shown to be effective rolled up.

Hill supports the run and plays with good aggression. He flashes hit power and is a willing tackler.

Negatively, his game is underdeveloped. That’s partially because he hasn’t played the position full-time much. Bouncing back and forth between corner and receiver until he made the full-time switch in 2023 isn’t good for his development. He might have covered Travis Hunter, but he isn’t Travis Hunter. A nasty 2024 foot injury did him no favors. He was essentially hurt half the season and tried to push through it, missing a few weeks, returning, and leaving again. It produced miserable tape as teams picked on him, especially Illinois, Indiana, and USC.

Hill will need to improve his technique, including his footwork. He guesses and gambles and often looks unsure on the field while having a nasty habit of locking eyes on the backfield and losing what’s going on behind him. It led to him allowing big plays. The 3rd and 10 against Colorado was especially bad, Nebraska in a picket fence defense with zero help and Hill (No. 31 in that example) is staring and beat.

Conclusion

Overall, Hill is an intriguing prospect for hitting all the right notes on the physical traits. His size, his speed, his physicality, and his hands are plus-plus for the position, that receiver background serving him well. But he’s got a lot of development needed more so than Florida State’s Azareye’h Thomas, who I already viewed as a more raw prospect. Hill is more unrefined than him.

It makes him a boom/bust prospect and difficult to gauge his NFL career arc. He could become a starter. He could only make it on special teams. He’ll have to develop his game, improve his football IQ and instincts, and then an NFL team will have something. In that sense, his game reminds me of a James Pierre but Hill is heavier, longer, and should test better. So, my NFL comp will be former Las Vegas Raiders fourth-round pick Isaiah Johnson, a similar-proportioned player who was a one-time college wideout.

Projection: Early-Mid Day Three
Depot Draft Grade: 7.4 – Fourth Round (Rotational Player)
Games Watched: at Colorado (2023), at Michigan State (2023), vs Iowa (2023), vs Colorado (2024), vs Illinois (2024), at Indiana (2024)