Is the next Tyreek Hill in the 2021 NFL Draft class?

Tyreek Hill is not an easily replicated player, but is the next version of him in the 2021 draft class?

Hill has been a difference maker from the start for Kansas City Chiefs, with at least six receiving touchdowns in all four of his seasons. In 2017 and 2018, he topped 1,100 yards with at least 75 receptions. As one of the fastest players in the NFL, comparing anyone to Hill is difficult at best.

As a freshman at Purdue in 2018, Rondale Moore had 114 receptions for 1,218 yards and 12 touchdowns, as he led the Big Ten in all three categories. Add in 213 yards (on 21 carries) and two touchdowns on the ground, and 744 total return yards (20.1 yards per kickoff return), and Moore was a worthy recipient of the Paul Hornung Award as the most versatile player in the country.

Moore was limited to just four games by injury last year. But even before the Big Ten officially canceled fall football, he opted out of the 2020 season to prepare for the 2021 NFL Draft. He is also on track to graduate from Purdue in 2.5 years.

Is Rondale Moore the next Tyreek Hill?

Even in what promises to be another loaded wide receiver class, Moore could be a first-round pick next April. Mike Renner of Pro Football Focus has offered up a pro comparison.

“While he’s not Tyreek Hill, he is the closest thing we’ve seen in recent drafts,”

Moore (5-foot-9, 180 pounds) is built similarly to Hill (5-foot-10, 185 pounds). Their timed speeds are also pretty similar, hard as that might be to believe. Hill ran a 4.29 40-yard dash at his 2016 Pro Day, and according to 247 Sports Moore ran a 4.33 40 in high school. So the comparison, even as Renner really only dipped his toes in it and kind of walked it back even as he said it, is apt on the surface.

The team that drafts Moore will definitely have some plans to put his versatility on display immediately. As for him becoming the next Tyreek Hill, or a close facsimile, time will tell.