Brandyn Hillman
Virginia#104 overallScouting Report
Brandyn Hillman is a converted high school quarterback turned hybrid safety who arrives at Virginia after three years at Michigan, and All Access Football lists him as a senior with a Day 3 grade for the 2027 class. He was a late-rising 2023 recruit whom Notre Dame found first, signed, then lost when an admissions issue reopened his recruitment and Michigan moved in, and he sat as a four-star inside the top 150 on two services while two others graded him closer to the fringe. That split is the story of the player: the traits are loud and the technique is young. He spent his first year and a half on special teams at Michigan before playing heavy snaps down the stretch in 2024, including his first career start in the bowl game against Alabama, and he opened 2025 with his best game in Ann Arbor, five tackles, a tackle for loss and his first interception against New Mexico. A to Z Sports describes him as a premier alley runner who pairs short area explosiveness with real physicality, more eraser than ball hawk but consistently near the football. Michigan asked him to play both single high and two high, and he made plays from both. At Virginia he steps into the hole left by third round pick Jonas Sanker, which means the audition is finally a full time one. Every evaluation of him, from Marcus Freeman to the Michigan beat, circles back to the same two words: athlete and leader.
NFL Comparison
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah burst and hybrid role; Dax Hill build and nickel flexibility; Jabrill Peppers as the box and special teams ceiling
Strengths
- Downhill trigger and alley run support, comes to balance and strikes on contact
- explosive short area burst that lets him close from the backside hash to the opposite sideline
- heavy tackler with sound form who pushes ball carriers backward and limits yards after contact
- quick mental processing on screens and short zone concepts, diagnoses and blows them up
- positional flexibility across strong safety, free safety, nickel and hybrid box roles, with reps at press corner in high school
- alignment versatility already proven, made plays from both single high and two high at Michigan
- alpha leadership and locker room energy noted by his high school coach, Michigan staff and neutral all star game scouts
- special teams value from day one given the acceleration in space
Weaknesses
- Coverage detail is the clear gap, man technique, footwork and eye discipline are all still catching up to the athleticism
- ball skills are marginal, has historically played the man rather than the ball when it is in the air
- deep range is unproven, he was used mostly in the short and intermediate areas
- backpedal was graded stiff coming out of high school, though evaluators split on that
- can get overly physical at the line and gets stacked on the jam, and he lacks the recovery speed to reattach if he misses
- production is thin on paper, only one real season of heavy snaps and a single career interception on the record
- straight line speed is good rather than elite, described as more explosive than fast
- positional identity is still open, which can slow a role from forming
College Stats
2025 opener vs New Mexico: 5 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT; 2024: rotational snaps down the stretch, first career start in the bowl game vs Alabama; 2023: mostly special teams
College Market Value
Our model prices him at $491K on the open college market, built from production, pedigree, role and Virginia's program money. No credible deal has been reported for him this season.
Portal: transferred from Michigan to Virginia for 2026.
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Measurables
Awards & Honors
Polynesian Bowl Defensive MVP (2023); consensus four star recruit, #130 overall on 247Sports and #137 on On3; all division at three positions as a senior; listed with a Day 3 projection for the 2027 NFL Draft