1.12 New Orleans Chocolate City — RB Ronnie Hillman

In the real world: Hillman went pro after his redshirt sophomore season and was taken by the Denver Broncos in Round 3. Steve Muench (Scouts, Inc.) wrote on February 14: "Hillman is the kind of undersized (5-10, 192 pounds) back with durability concerns that teams normally shy away from. He carried the ball 311 times in 2011 and that kind of wear and tear will only increase concerns about him being nicked up. Hillman also had ball security issues. However, he is only 20 years old and played just two seasons at San Diego State, meaning he still has plenty of unrealized potential. Hillman is a slippery runner who could turn into a valuable third-down contributor if he can get stronger." Mel Kiper pointed out that Hillman produced like he did last year despite the fact that San Diego State no longer had Vincent Brown or DeMarco Sampson. Could he be another clone of Darren Sproles?

In the TUFF world: New Orleans made this pick to get both additional depth at running back, not to mention a potential starter (the Broncos' other RBs are Knowshon Moreno, who has been hurt in each of the last two years; and Willis McGahee, who turned 30 last October). As it is, their #2 RB (Fred Jackson) could be stuck in a timeshare.  But one caveat: Two years ago, Ken Mach mentioned that the reason he passed on Kevin Smith in 2008 was that "they burned him in college with all those carries" (referring to Smith's final year at Central Florida when he had a whopping 450 carries in 14 games). Smith has gotten nicked up every season in the pros, and he's about 20 pounds heavier than Hillman.