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QB Shaun Hill, San Francisco 49ers

HT: 6-3, WT: 226, Born: 1-9-1980, College: Maryland, Drafted: ---

2009 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of September 7th. [Full ADP list]

Overall: T Scheffler (178), Shaun Hill (180), V Davis (181),
Position: J Campbell (157-QB24), M Sanchez (177-QB25), Shaun Hill (180 - QB26), K Collins (188-QB27), B Quinn (190-QB28)
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PPR Average draft position

Current as of September 7th. [Full PPR ADP list]

Overall: D Bess (181), Shaun Hill (183), D Branch (184), S Rice (185)
Position: J Campbell (161-QB23), C Pennington (170-QB24), Shaun Hill (183 - QB25), M Sanchez (189-QB26), M Bulger (197-QB27)
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Best Case

To illustrate Shaun Hill's fantasy potential, if his 2008 stats were pro-rated over 16 games, he would have been a Top 6 fantasy QB. Adding hot shot rookie WR Michael Crabtree and FA Brandon Jones to an otherwise intact passing game, and Hill could be real value in fantasy drafts.

Worst Case

Hill will need to adapt to another new offense in 2009 as he'll have his sixth different offensive coordinator in the last six years. Another concern is that Hill has finished the last two years as a starter on 49ers teams that were out of contention. How will he play in early season games that really matter? With the departure of Mike Martz,the passing game is also likely to be scaled down under the more conservative Jimmy Raye.

Outlook

At the conclusion of 2007, Shaun Hill demonstrated the ability to post solid fantasy stats. He was rewarded with an extended contract and the chance to win the starting job outright in 2008. He struggled however to adapt to the Martz playbook and it wasn't until Mike Singletary took over the head coaching role that Hill was given an extended run to close out 2008. As for Hill's fantasy prospects this year, with the arrival of Jimmy Raye expect the primary focus to be the running game. The drafting of Michael Crabtree gives him a big play weapon, but is Crabtree going to be a big contributor in his rookie season? There are a lot of questions marks surrounding Hill, but the promise of his upside is tantalizing.

Relevant Articles

Why he is a good deep sleeper pick

Sigmund Bloom - No matter the outcome of the QB battle in training camp, Hill will be the only SF QB worth rostering by the end of the year. His style ain't pretty, but it gets the job done for the 49ers and your fantasy team. Hill has accounted for 19 total TDs and 20 FPPG while piloting the 49ers to a 7-3 record in his 10 starts over the last two years. He is the best option if you want to be the last one to take your backup QB, you just might have to wait until Alex Smith loses the job to use him.

Bob Henry - Hill is facing a heated training camp battle with former top pick Alex Smith to win the starting job. Smith looks better in practices and undoubtedly has a better arm, athleticism, etc. The problem is when the lights go on and it's game time, Smith comes up short. Hill gets it done. He's 7-3 as the 49ers quarterback on some fairly poor teams that didn't win with other quarterbacks. Hill needs to win the job, but if you're like me and have little faith in Alex Smith turning it around, Hill is worth a flyer.

Andy Hicks - The San Francisco 49ers upgraded their receiving corps, plan to go to a more balanced offense and have realistic playoff ambitions. They'll need a winning quarterback to achieve that and they have that guy in Shaun Hill. For the 2008 season he was of fantasy starting caliber and his only obstacle to more fantasy success is beating 1st round bust Alex Smith for the starting role. Obviously this situation will need to be monitored closely, but it would seem incredulous for the 49ers to start Smith over Hill. For a late round pick Hill is worth the gamble.

Jeff Pasquino - Even with the weak WR corps of Isaac Bruce and Bryant Johnson starting last season, Shaun Hill closed the year with eight consecutive starts and had over 13 fantasy points in every contest, including four games of 20+. San Francisco has a number of good receivers for 2009 that are not household names -- yet. Josh Morgan and Michael Crabtree are your eventual starters (once Crabtree signs -- for now it is a capable Isaac Bruce) and TE Vernon Davis should boost the receiving options from 2008. Look for Hill to win the starting job in training camp and be a surprise performer all year.

Chase Stuart - Shaun Hill averaged 22.2 FP/G in the 8.5 games he played in 2008. That's only half a point behind Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb. Hill has been a very consistent performer the past two seasons -- he's scored over 12 points in each of his 12 games. Hill does not have a pretty arm and he's been bolstered by an easy strength of schedule. But whenever he starts against a weak defense, he's a good bet to score around 20 FPs.

Maurile Tremblay - Hill played only the second half of the season last year, but was a top ten QB in terms of points per game (and top eight if you consider that he really only played 8.5 games instead of 9). While he's in a tough battle with Alex Smith to win the starting job, I Hill gives the 49ers the best chance to win, and he should be the starter on opening day. If he is, he'll have an improved corps of receivers to throw to with the addition of rookie Michael Crabtree (if he gets into camp in time to learn the offense).

Jason Wood - Hill played well last year after the 49ers realized what the rest of us already knew. He's got a stronger arm than people give him credit for, and makes good decisions. His quick release keeps him from taking a lot of hits, and he should flourish in the more traditional Pro Style offense Jimmy Raye plans to implement this season. When you consider the strength of Hill's receiving corps, it would be awfully difficult for him to fall short of the Top 25 as long as he beats out Alex Smith in camp as we suspect.

David Yudkin - Playing on a team that hasn't really been in the hunt and playing in only a few games has left Hill a snake in the grass. In 12 games over the past two seasons, he's averaged 19 fantasy ppg. That projects to over 300 points over a full season and would rank in the Top 10.

2009 Schedule

2008 Game Summaries

Week 8 - QB Shaun Hill relieved QB J.T. O'Sullivan for the final possession of the first half following O'Sullivan's second turnover of the game. Hill played reasonably well for his first appearance of the season, even leading the team on a late scoring drive which culminated in a touchdown pass to WR Jason Hill in the back of the end zone. Hill did not turn the ball over, which for an entire half is pretty good for the 49ers, but he did have the ball knocked out of his hand but the team recovered. Hill also managed 20 yards on the ground and looked good scrambling for first downs.

Week 10 - Hill started the game off extremely well and it looked like he was going to continue his success. However, in the second half he forced a couple of balls in that got intercepted, including two that were returned for touchdowns but called back for encroachment penalties. He likely noticed the encroachment and tried to make something happen, but failed. He was very good at moving around the pocket and showed great heart out there -- particularly on a run where he fought through three defenders for three extra yards to get a first down while losing his helmet.

Week 11 - Hill was sacked two times (not a bad game for a 49ers QB), and he kept his cool, showed some elusiveness, and came up with a number of big plays. More importantly, he did not throw an INT or fumble the ball away. He didn't need to throw the ball much after the second quarter, but while the passing attack was still relevant, he did a good job spreading the ball around, keeping his top three WRs (Isaac Bruce, Bryant Johnson and Jason Hill) involved in the game. Johnson had a huge 42 yard catch, and RB Michael Robinson had a 36 yard reception that set up the 49ers with a first and goal from the one. Hill didn't scramble very often, but he scored a rushing TD on a quarterback draw.

Week 12 - Shaun Hill had a good game statistically, throwing for over 300 yards, two touchdowns, and only one interception. He generally made good decisions with the ball, as he was facing constant pressure from the Dallas defense. The coverage forced him to roll out or hurry his passes. He was able to take advantage of the soft coverage provided to his outside receivers by either hitting them on open shorter routes or on the occasional deep ball. Hill did show some of his inexperience by failing to lead the receivers on some passes when a perfect throw could have resulted in much more yardage. The inexperience showed on his lone interception where the defensive back played the ball well, but had the pass been thrown to a different area the result would have been a touchdown. His two touchdowns came late in the fourth quarter after the game was mostly in hand and Dallas was playing in a prevent style defense.

Week 13 - Shaun Hill continued his consistent play, as he completed 14 of 23 for 161 yards and one touchdown and zero interceptions. A second TD pass was called back on a penalty and he posted a QB rating of 96.5. In his previous three games Hill had thrown a total of six touchdowns with an average QB rating of 94.3.

Week 14 - Hill got into a rhythm early and for the most part retained it with his receivers. He threw several passes to a spot where his receivers should be, and most of the time, he and his receivers were on the same page. As a result of his accurate timing based passing, Hill's receivers were able to gain yards after the catch a lot of times. Hill showed a very good command of the offense, and usually made good decisions in terms of which of his receivers to throw to. While he did not attempt many deep passes, his accuracy on the short and intermediate passing enabled his receivers to gain yards after the catch most of the time, which helped his overall passing numbers.

Week 15 - Hill's recent string of strong fantasy outings came to an end with this game. He moved the team well and positioned the team to be in scoring positions. However, Hill and the offense were not able to capitalize with anything other then field goals. Also of note, the winds were gusting at close to 20 MPH and this played a factor in the passing game. Hill did struggle with accuracy at times as he under threw or over threw receivers depending on which direction the wind was. Hill was under pressure all game and was dropped five times for Miami sacks. The rapport and timing with veteran receiver Isaac Bruce continued in this game. It is obvious that Bruce represents Hill's go to guy.

Week 16 - Hill had a pretty rough game, but got the team the win. He battled through three interceptions to rally the Niners to a narrow victory. He was sacked four times and the interceptions were the result of poor decisions under pressure. In the fourth quarter, it appeared that he was nearly replaced, but in the end rewarded the coach's decision to stick with him by putting his mistakes and throwing two TD passes to lead his team to an improbable comeback win. Hill was also the team's leading rusher.

Week 17 - On the 49ers' first drive Hill ran the offense efficiently, completing all of his passes and then making the smart decision to abort a planned shovel pass and rush the ball in himself for a short touchdown. Even so, it was clear that San Francisco wanted to focus on the ground game and Hill's chances to succeed (or fail) were limited in the early going. Where Hill was successful in the first half was in the short to medium game as he seemed to hit his targets in those zones with regularity. Downfield was a different story, however. Early in the second quarter he made an ill-advised pass 20 yards downfield toward WR Josh Morgan who was surrounded by Washington DBs. One of them, Carlos Rogers, picked off the pass and returned it 33 yards. As the game moved to its second half -- and in particular the fourth quarter, Hill dropped back much more often and generated some solid plays, including downfield. In the 49ers' first drive of the final quarter Hill was six of seven in passing attempts, and capped it off with a nine yard TD toss to WR Jason Hill. On the 49ers' final drive of the game Hill was just as impressive as he took his team down the field with roughly a minute remaining and set up the game-winning FG. Aside from the interception, Hill had a very good game.