NFL Draft: Kenny Hilliard selected by Texans in 7th round

Kenny Hilliard had his name called by the Houston Texans today in the final round of the 2015 NFL Draft.

Kenny Hilliard faced some uncertainty regarding whether or not he would be drafted this weekend, but that worry was put to rest, fortunately. The Houston Texans picked up the former LSU running back today in the seventh and final round of the NFL Draft.

Hilliard will join fellow LSU Tiger Alfred Blue in Houston, who excelled while backing up Arian Foster during his rookie season. While the Texans have a very crowded backfield, Hilliard should be able to find his niche and maintain a spot on the roster.

Despite never being the first, and often times not even the second option, he was able to make his impact felt at LSU, a team with a stable of NFL running back talent.

Hilliard will face an uphill battle in the NFL absolutely, and after a less than promising combine performance, the bruising running back found his NFL future in doubt. He ran an abysmal 4.8 second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, something that tremendously hurt the draft stock of a player whose biggest knock against him is a lack of quickness. Hilliard was able to find much more success on his own home field, however, running a 4.6 at his pro day on LSU’s campus.

Many pundits will point to his lack of carries in college as a cause for concern, but I feel the complete opposite. Unlike other schools that force a heavy workload upon its backs, the running back-by-committee system that Les Miles employs helps his players to excel in the NFL.

“I’m blessed and fortunate I don’t have that much wear and tear on my body, so I’m going in the league healthy and ready to go,” Hilliard told Nola.com.“I feel good and whatever team need me is going to have a healthy back. I didn’t have that 30-something carries a game. We as backs at LSU are fortunate because we last in the league if you see the statistics.”

Even though he is far from the best talent in the draft, Hilliard provides the Texans with a reliable player that has potential to become a solid goal-line back, a role he fit pretty well while at LSU.