2016 NFL Draft: NFL Mocks had an exclusive interview with Houston Cougars defensive back Lee Hightower as he prepares for this year’s draft…
The Houston Cougars defensive backfield is loaded with NFL talent, and after racking up 21 interceptions and breaking up 66 passes this past season, it’s easy to see why. Lee Hightower, a former Boise State transfer who has played the last two seasons with Houston, is one of the members of this ball-hawking defense, one of the best we’ve seen in all of college football over the last two years at taking the football away.
Hightower is a 6-1 198 pound defensive back who posted a 4.58 second 40-yard dash at the Houston pro day along with 16 bench press reps, a 37-inch vertical jump, and a 10’5″ broad jump. Playing all over the field in college, NFL scouts see Hightower as a safety in the NFL but he has the versatility to play all over the defensive formation.
After suffering an Achilles injury in 2014, cutting his junior season to only six games, Hightower needed a big bounce back season in 2015 as a senior to put himself on the NFL map. He did just that, racking up a career high 53 tackles to go along with an interception, two pass breakups, and a forced fumble.
Hightower has been through plenty already as a college football player, experiencing the rigors of coming back from a serious injury while also dealing with the craziness of a transfer, sitting out a year due to NCAA rules, and coming back strong. He took some time out of his pre-draft schedule to talk with NFL Mocks about what that experience in college was like, and how it’s shaped him today.
“I’ve had three different head coaches, three different defensive coordinators, four position coaches, and two different schools,” Hightower said. “The biggest thing for me is to be even-keeled and grounded…From now looking back at 18, I was kind of molded by environment. It changed who I was. Now that I’ve been around so many different things and dealt with a lot of different coaches…I can change quickly and I can adapt quickly to different things.”
Adapting quickly is essential in the NFL. It can be the difference between making a roster and quickly finding yourself looking for a tryout. Hightower has things NFL scouts and coaches covet — coachability, size, football IQ, explosiveness — but most importantly, he has versatility. In today’s NFL, it’s imperative and having played safety, corner, and nickel in college, Hightower is ready for that aspect of the NFL.
“I played corner and safety at a high level. I feel like I can really cover. I’m really smart, I’m knowledgeable. I’ve been playing football since I was seven so I just understand the game from different standpoints. I can play every position in the defensive backfield, and I’m someone who can catch on quickly to different concepts, run the show, get guys lined up on the field and ready to go.”
Once considered to be in the doghouse at Boise State, Hightower has clearly cleaned up his act, and sounds like he’s ready for the jump to the NFL mentally as well as physically, despite coming off of a serious injury. He’s dealt with plenty of adversity in his college career, but now it’s about making sure teams don’t have a reason to cut you. The way to get ahead in that regard is to know your job, and execute it.
Hightower says coaches and scouts who view him as a safety have been grilling him on the mental side of the game…
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“What do you know about the game, and can you make the calls? Playing safety, that’s what a lot of teams have their safeties do. I think what really separates people is what’s between their ears.”
Hightower and I talked about his hobbies outside of football, where he said he likes to cook and hopes to one day be in the food business one way or another. We chatted about the Houston victory over Florida State in this year’s Peach Bowl, one of the reasons why the Houston football program is firmly on the national map now.
We talked about his admiration of the Ravens defenses of the early 2000s and what it takes to be consistent in the NFL. Hightower knows his stuff, and hopes to replicate that consistency as he transitions to an NFL career.
This is a bright young man with a bright future in this league. He might not be the most highly touted prospect coming from the talented group of ballhawks in Houston’s secondary, but he’s one to keep an eye on.