what happened to Hill?

[JBUCK66]

I'm not sure if the line sucks or what's going on but he stinks. I would throw to gio maybe 10 times next week and let Hill ride the pines

 

[alf8478]

He's become Rudi Johnson

 

[futballiscool]

He's become Rudi Johnson

Rudi had a really good 4 year stretch before his career hit the wall. That's normal for a power back. No clue what's happened to Hill

 

[alf8478]

He's become "Hit the Wall' Rudi Johnson

 

[Cincyfan78]

It seems to me that he's being overly patient at times. Wanting to wait and break that 15-20 yard run. Last year, it seemed like he just got the ball and went. 4 yards, and then breaking a few tackles would break off those 15-20 yard runs. Now it seems like he's just waiting for that hole to open up too long instead of just getting and going.

By Contrast, look at Gio, who is by far more 'shifty'. He's getting the ball and he's gone. No dancing behind the line, no waiting for something to open up. He's gone, and he's sitting at nearly 5 YPC.

 

[BKBroiler9000]

This is just my humble opinion. Bernard took his benching last season with a chip on his shoulder, worked his ass off in the offseason, and came out this year with something to prove. He's been by far the better RB this season.

Hill on the other hand looks like a guy who had it come to easy to him last season. He's lost his edge, become a plodding, hesitant tackling dummy. Too early to say last season was a fluke, but he's definitely not as good as he appeared to be last year.

 

[cincygrad]

The fumbles drive me nuts..... He's not playing well enough to continuously put the ball on the field.

I've given up on seeing improvement from him this season. At this point, our best hope is that he doesn't fumble and he helps in short yardage situations. I don't see him making big plays or taking over a game anytime soon. This offense will go as far as McCarron allows them..... If he can't make the throws, we'll be in trouble.

 

[alf8478]

The fumbles drive me nuts..... He's not playing well enough to continuously put the ball on the field.

I've given up on seeing improvement from him this season. At this point, our best hope is that he doesn't fumble and he helps in short yardage situations. I don't see him making big plays or taking over a game anytime soon. This offense will go as far as McCarron allows them..... If he can't make the throws, we'll be in trouble.

What he said...

 

[BKBroiler9000]

The fumbles drive me nuts..... He's not playing well enough to continuously put the ball on the field.

I've given up on seeing improvement from him this season. At this point, our best hope is that he doesn't fumble and he helps in short yardage situations. I don't see him making big plays or taking over a game anytime soon. This offense will go as far as McCarron allows them..... If he can't make the throws, we'll be in trouble.

Agreed. I find myself cringing everytime Hill touches the ball.

 

[Cincyfan78]

The fumbles drive me nuts..... He's not playing well enough to continuously put the ball on the field.

I've given up on seeing improvement from him this season. At this point, our best hope is that he doesn't fumble and he helps in short yardage situations. I don't see him making big plays or taking over a game anytime soon. This offense will go as far as McCarron allows them..... If he can't make the throws, we'll be in trouble.

I agree with the fumbles, but I'm hesitant to really blame him 100% on his last one. Fat-Ass Smith got owned so badly, he fell backwards into Hill just after he got the ball. Yes, I agree Hill still shouldn't have lost the ball, but he barely had time to put the ball away before Smith came crashing into him.

I think Hill worked hard, but I think he tried to improve upon his patience from last year to break longer runs by waiting for things to open up, and I think he took it to an extreme. Now he's overly patient. He used to make his own holes, get 4 yards, and then broken tackles would lead to long gains. Now he just waits, and waits, and waits.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

He just isn't being as aggressive. If he gets the ball and bursts, he has been making plays. He has looked much better the last few weeks. Last week he had the fumble, clearly his fault, but Smith could have helped him by not being 6 yards deep in the backfield when Hill was taking the hand off. He also didn't get the carries to keep building on like he did the weeks before. It just looks like the line is not run blocking nearly as well this year to me as well. That may be wrong per PFF, but it just doesn't seem to be as good as last year when Hill went off.

 

[cincygrad]

He just isn't being as aggressive. If he gets the ball and bursts, he has been making plays. He has looked much better the last few weeks. Last week he had the fumble, clearly his fault, but Smith could have helped him by not being 6 yards deep in the backfield when Hill was taking the hand off. He also didn't get the carries to keep building on like he did the weeks before. It just looks like the line is not run blocking nearly as well this year to me as well. That may be wrong per PFF, but it just doesn't seem to be as good as last year when Hill went off.

He was averaging less than 2 yards a carry. He looked like a bum.

 

[Cincyfan78]

He just isn't being as aggressive. If he gets the ball and bursts, he has been making plays. He has looked much better the last few weeks. Last week he had the fumble, clearly his fault, but Smith could have helped him by not being 6 yards deep in the backfield when Hill was taking the hand off. He also didn't get the carries to keep building on like he did the weeks before. It just looks like the line is not run blocking nearly as well this year to me as well. That may be wrong per PFF, but it just doesn't seem to be as good as last year when Hill went off.

Gio is nearly at 5 YPC.

Hill needs to get the damn ball and make his own hole. Stop dancing around in the backfield, hold on to the ball, and make something happen instead of waiting for it to happen.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Gio is nearly at 5 YPC.

Hill needs to get the damn ball and make his own hole. Stop dancing around in the backfield, hold on to the ball, and make something happen instead of waiting for it to happen.

I do not disagree with that, as that is what I meant by being more aggressive. However, I do not think the carries per game has helped him and neither has the oline as much this year. Still clearly on Hill to make the plays, I will not refute that, but I think the offensive dynamic has changed since last year a little bit and Hill lost some confidence in that one big fumble game he had against the Chiefs?

Anyways, it was just my thought.

 

[kramer1]

He got too big for his britches. Happens all the time.

He'll be out of the league in 3 years.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

He got too big for his britches. Happens all the time.

He'll be out of the league in 3 years.

Good possibility. You are right, it does happen all t he time.

 

[DanBengalfan]

time catches up with many running backs quickly. several teams seem to be able to do wonderfully with their 2nd and 3rd stringer running backs, we just keep throwing the same guy into the other teams DL expecting something different to happen. but our coaches are smart, yea.