Saturday News and Notes: Joe Hills Off the Team

The big news today is that Joe Hills has left the team of his own accord. Hills was moved to safety earlier this week, presumably because he was struggling with dropped passes and because we could have used his athleticism on the defensive depth chart. Hills apparently didn't take well to the position change and wants to move on to play receiver somewhere else.

First of all, I don't think losing Hills is going to hurt us too much. The kid is a remarkable athlete and has shown promise at times, but let's face it: he's a junior now and has yet to prove he's capable of locking down a spot in the receivers rotation. The problems with dropped passes have been notable and consistent with him. With the depth chart quickly crowding as Tori Gurley, Alshon Jeffery, and DeMario Bennett continue to impress, Hills was probably not going to be a major contributor over the next couple of years, at least not as a receiver.

Second of all, I frankly think that if Hills couldn't cope with what the coaches think of him, then we don't want him on the team anyways. What we need are guys like Dion LeCorn and C.C. Whitlock that are guys that want to be on the team and that are willing to work hard to get into the coaches good graces. I hear Joe is a great kid and I wish him the best of luck wherever he goes, but if his reaction to being in the doghouse is not to fight to get back into the rotation and to instead just cut ties and leave, then he's not the kind of presence we want.