Day 2 prospects Atlanta could target in second round<\/p>\n
LB Anthony Hill Jr., Texas<\/p>\n
Career stats and facts: Started 32 out of 40 games played | 249 total tackles (31.5 for a loss) | 17 sacks | 8 forced fumbles | 5 passes defensed | 3 interceptions | Second Team All-American (2024, 2025) | Second Team All-SEC (2024, 2025)<\/p>\n
From The Beast: “Hill needs to play with better control in his movements and take-on attempts, but he is a long, rangy athlete with the closing speed to impact the game in different ways. He has three-down starting potential, although volatility should be expected as he continues to develop.”<\/p>\n
EDGE R Mason Thomas, Oklahoma<\/p>\n
Career stats and facts: Started 20 out of 42 games played | 65 total tackles (25.5 for a loss) | 17 sacks | 4 forced fumbles | Second Team All-American (2025) | First Team All-SEC (2025)<\/p>\n
From The Beast: “Thomas is an undersized edge defender who combines first-step quickness with violent play strength and closing burst and never quits working to the football. His ability to vary his rush tempo leads to disruption and will help him find a meaningful role in the NFL.”<\/p>\n
DT Kayden McDonald, Ohio State<\/p>\n
Career stats and facts: Started 14 out of 36 games played | 85 total tackles (11 for a loss) | 3 sacks | 2 forced fumbles | Unanimous All-American (2025) | Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year (2025) | First Team All-Big Ten<\/p>\n
From The Beast: “McDonald will require time to develop a pass-rush identity, but his dominant run-game qualities will make him immediately useful from different interior alignments. He projects as an early-down rookie, with a role that should continue to expand.”<\/p>\n
CB Colton Hood, Tennessee<\/p>\n
Career stats and facts: Started 13 of 29 games played | 77 total tackles (5.5 for a loss) | 1 forced fumble | 17 passes defended | 3 interceptions (one returned for a touchdown) | Third Team All-SEC<\/p>\n
From The Beast: “Hood embraces press-man challenges and is the type of balanced, scrappy athlete who can attach himself to receivers and make things difficult for the offense. He has the talent and wiring to be an early NFL starter.”<\/p>\n
DT Christen Miller, Georgia<\/p>\n
Career stats and facts: Started 24 of 43 games played | 64 total tackles (11.5 for a loss) | 4 sacks | 1 pass defended<\/p>\n
From The Beast: “Miller can be up and down with his anchor and rush consistency, but he is rock solid as a run defender who should excel on early downs. His role will shift depending on scheme, though he projects best as a one-gapping nose in a four-man front.”<\/p>\n
LB Jacob Rodriguez, Texas Tech<\/p>\n
Career stats and facts: Started 31 of 56 games played | 315 total tackles (25.5 for a loss) | 6 sacks | 13 forced fumbles | 14 passes defended | 6 interceptions | Unanimous All-American (2025) | First Team All-Big 12 (2024, 2025) | Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year (2025) | Bednarik and Lombardi Awards (2025)<\/p>\n
From The Beast: “Rodriguez has a very average size profile, but his athletic versatility has made him a more instinctive linebacker and helps him play decisively. He should immediately compete for a starting role in the NFL.”<\/p>\n
DT Lee Hunter, Texas Tech<\/p>\n
Career stats and facts: Started 37 of 52 games played | 173 total tackles (32.5 for a loss) | 8 sacks | 1 forced fumble | Second Team All-American (2025) | First Team All-Big Ten (2025)<\/p>\n
From The Beast: “Hunter doesn’t have the pass-rush skill set to consistently impact the quarterback, but he is instinctive as a run defender and has heavy hands to make stops at the line of scrimmage. He projects as a scheme-diverse, two-gapping nose.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Day 2 prospects Atlanta could target in second round LB Anthony Hill Jr., Texas Career stats and facts:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[313,8062,8090,8033,314,8,1649,8028,8039,9,7],"class_list":{"0":"post-20409","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-anthony-hill-jr","10":"tag-christen-miller","11":"tag-colton-hood","12":"tag-draft","13":"tag-headlines","14":"tag-jacob-rodriguez","15":"tag-kayden-mcdonald","16":"tag-lee-hunter","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@news\/116461287694760832","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}