Southern Utah's Killebrew goes to Lions in 4th round

Apr 30, 2016 - 5:20 PM (STATS) - At the NFL combine, Deion Sanders approached Miles Killebrew to meet and give him a hug.

Killebrew, the strong safety from Southern Utah, thought it should be the other way around.

Many people around the NFL think highly of Killebrew, none more so than the Detroit Lions, who selected him in the fourth round of the draft with the 111th overall pick Saturday.

The 6-foot-2, 217-pounder has the potential to be a hybrid linebacker in the NFL - ala Kam Chancellor in Seattle and Deone Bucannon in Arizona - because of his size, skill set and hard-hitting style. He is expected to make a quick impact on special teams.

A four-year starter at Southern Utah, Killebrew helped the Thunderbirds win the 2015 Big Sky Conference title, calling defensive signals in the secondary and totaling 132 tackles and seven pass breakups.

His physical style drew attention at the Senior Bowl and he improved his 40-yard dash time from the combine with a 4.5-second clocking at Southern Utah's pro day.