09:11 AM EDT on Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Leading up to the NFL Draft, the Journal's Tom E. Curran will profile a player at a "need" position for the Patriots each day. New England has 11 picks in the draft, six in the first four rounds. Their first-round pick is the 21st overall. Profiles are based on our own analysis and interviews, various draft resources and Pro Football Weekly's 2006 Draft Preview book.

TODAY'S PROFILE: TYE HILL POSITION: Cornerback.

COLLEGE: Clemson.

HEIGHT: 5-foot-9 1/2.

WEIGHT: 185 pounds.

TIME IN THE 40: 4.38.

THE LOWDOWN He was a corner at Clemson for three years after spending his red-shirt freshman season as a running back (255 yards on 42 carries). Started 33 games at corner in three seasons. He was third in the country in pass breakups as a junior, with 21. Had three picks and 54 tackles in 2005. Won the ACC indoor 60 meters, which he's run in a personal best time of 6.71 seconds.

THE PROS An absolute burner with fluid change of direction skills. He's going to be tough to get separation from, even for the quickest receivers. Long arms, great leaper, tackles well and doesn't mind coming up to make the stick. Even if he gets fooled, his makeup speed gets him back into the play.

THE CONS He's not just a little short, and he's skinny, too. He has to get a lot more polished at the position. Pro Football Weekly's draft preview called his practice habits and love of the game into question. In some ways, he's similar to Tyrone Poole -- extremely fast, very good athlete -- but it took Poole a while to be a consistent corner in the NFL despite being a first-round pick.

COULD HE BE A PATRIOT? New England has shown interest. Hill has visited Foxboro during the pre-draft process. Still, adding the 5-9 Hill to a corner group including the 5-8 Ellis Hobbs and the 5-9 Asante Samuel would make the Pats exceedingly short on the outside (but very speedy). Hill's ability is plain to see, but his profile screams "project" and New England could probably get players who get themselves in the right spots (Alan Zemaitis and Richard Marshall) to contribute consistently sooner than Hill would.

COLLECTION OF CARDS "Draft Card" will run every day between now and April 28, which is the eve of the NFL Draft. All entries are archived on projo.com at www.projo.com/patriots