San Francisco 49ers: Justin Hilliard an undrafted steal in 2021

The San Francisco 49ers got themselves an undrafted free agent steal in the 2021 circuit. How can Justin Hilliard carve out a role for himself?

If they can stay healthy, the San Francisco 49ers have one of the best and most talented rosters in the NFL right now. They are banking a lot on rookie quarterback Trey Lance, but San Francisco has the coaching and talent on both sides of the ball to get back to where they were just two seasons ago sooner rather than later.

If they’re going to do that, though, the 49ers are going to need the help of the guys further down the depth chart. They need to have depth capable of stepping in and making plays at a moment’s notice, and that’s what they are hopefully getting in prized undrafted free agent Justin Hilliard.

Hilliard was a five-star prospect way back in the class of 2015 who came to Ohio State like just about every other prep star does — with huge expectations.

Hilliard was the top-ranked linebacker prospect in his recruiting class, but he, unfortunately, didn’t play at all in 2015 and only played one game in 2016 with biceps injuries.

He became a core special teams player in 2017 and appeared in 11 games, but just like that, time probably felt like it was running out on his career with Ohio State.

From 2018 to 2020, Hilliard established himself as a key piece of the Ohio State defense and became a rare six-year player for the Buckeyes after his medical redshirt early on.

He showed incredible resilience by coming back from an Achilles injury in the Spring of 2019 to actually play 10 games. Despite spending six years at Ohio State, the former top-ranked linebacker prospect finished his time with the Buckeyes playing only 36 total games.

Finding any consistency in terms of production was tough, but what Hilliard put on tape down the stretch of the 2020 season proved why so many had high expectations for him coming out of the high school ranks.

San Francisco 49ers get UDFA steal in Justin Hilliard

The San Francisco 49ers obviously liked what they saw out of Hilliard enough to give him a hefty $30,000 signing bonus and guaranteed $95,000 in base salary, a $125,000 guarantee in total.

Although his age and injury history likely contributed to his drop completely off the 2021 NFL Draft board, there is no doubt that Hilliard has talent and can contribute to the 49ers immediately on special teams.

Defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans is taking over for departed Robert Saleh who took the head coaching gig with the New York Jets. Ryans was a really good linebacker himself and will have the chance to mold Hilliard and bring him up with some very talented linebackers in that 49ers unit including Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw.