Peyton Hillis

If the Browns continue to run Hillis up the middle from a single back set, on obvious run downs, with a stacked defensive line, Peyton may not explode on Baltimore as he did earlier in the season.

The difference between the first meeting and the one this Sunday against the Ravens, is that the offensive coordinator for the Browns by virtue of his play calling in the preceding few games, appears to have been Daballed.Edited by: WHITE NOISE

Colonel_Reb said:

wa33, Don posted that blurb 4 posts above yours.

Click to expand...

Oops. I didn't even look through all the posts.

whiteathlete33 said:

Colonel_Reb said:

wa33, Don posted that blurb 4 posts above yours.

Click to expand...

Oops. I didn't even look through all the posts.

Click to expand...

No problem man. On this huge thread, it is easy to overlook something.

I really hope his knee is okay. Racists implying he can't handle a heavy workload, wouldn't his limited role in college give him a longer shelf life? less wear and tear? sure he has to learn how much effort he can put out and make it through the season but that is every college back that adjusts to the pro game. Hardesty was going to be the feature back who only had one healthy season in college. I guess we should reduce Peterson's role too, because he has been nicked up his entire career with little things that kept him out of practice, 3 years after he had knee problems his rookie season and over 1000 touches later he finally sat out a game because of injury. Nobody doubted his ability as a feature back after missing almost a month because ligament damage in his knee his first year, and nobody wrote tons of articles about the 18 fumbles he had in 2008 and 2009 seasons. And guess what problems he had his first year after taking more carries away from Chester Taylor and having the offense built around him? hamstring problems! They are really trying to reduce Hillis to a Alstott type role. Peterson seems to have had almost identical problems but was never doubted as a feature back.


Edited by: snow

Colonel_Reb said:

whiteathlete33 said:

Colonel_Reb said:

wa33, Don posted that blurb 4 posts above yours.

Click to expand...

Oops. I didn't even look through all the posts.

Click to expand...

No problem man. On this huge thread, it is easy to overlook something.

Click to expand...

I have too much on my mind, Colonel. I just went for an interview with Samsung for administrative work. I really need that job!

update on his status

Peyton Hillis (knee) insists him missing Wednesday's practice isn't a big deal and that he feels "great."
"I
feel great," Hillis said. "It is a long season. It's tough on your
body, but I think my body's holding up well. I don't see any differences
from the beginning of the season." Hillis was spotted limping at team
headquarters Wednesday, but it doesn't seem to be a big concern. We're
likely to see him back on the practice field Thursday.</font> Dec. 23 - 8:31 am et</span>
Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer

He is practicing today but it hasn't been said whether if it was limited or not. I pray all is well.

I also hope that Daboli uses Peyton right, or should I say left. Run behind the left side of the line, and run the toss play to that side with Thomas and Steinbach pulling and Vickers behind them blocking. This type of play wouldn't be too hard on his knee if it is sore and will put up yards. He is trying to outsmart the defense and hes not good at it. Just run power football to the left with power formations, saying this is what im running, try and stop me. It has worked in the past, the other stuff isn't fooling anyone, like shotgun formation on 3rd and 1.

They really need to win these last two, it could save Mangini's job, espescially since its two tough division opponents. I don't think a new coach will give Hillis anywhere near the amount of touches he has had this year, considering Gruden is the top candidate, despite being overrated, he won with a team someone else built. Yes Hillis is the face of the franchise and is help selling tickets but fans were pumped about Alstott even in his limited role

Edited by: snow

whiteathlete33 said:

I have too much on my mind, Colonel. I just went for an interview with Samsung for administrative work. I really need that job!

Click to expand...

I hope you get that job! Sounds like a good opportunity.

Colonel_Reb said:

whiteathlete33 said:

I have too much on my mind, Colonel. I just went for an interview with Samsung for administrative work. I really need that job!

Click to expand...

I hope you get that job! Sounds like a good opportunity.

Click to expand...

Thanks Colonel! It really is.

I know what it is like to need a job for a length of time. God blessed me with a nice job after several months of waiting and preparation.

Good luck Whiteathlete33

Thanks guys! I'll know Wednesday. Anyway getting back to Hillis here is a bit from Rotoworld.

Although he's not ready to admit that Peyton Hillis (knee) is wearing
down, coach Eric Mangini conceded that he'd ideally have "two or three
backs where you could interchange them all the time."


<div ="s_pNewsTextMain">
"You could play them in all different spots," said Mangini. "It's just
that Peyton has had such a good season and provides so much to our
offense. It's hard to make the case to take him off the field."
Considering Hillis' physical style, the Browns would do well to pair him
with another runner, such as Montario Hardesty, next season.</div>

Weenieworld would love that scenario, which really means less carries for Peyton and more for a lesser black back. Peyton needs to be THE MAN in Cleveland. In an era where few black backs get nearly all the carries on their team, it would be great to have one of the few White RBs in the league be the only ball carrier. This would further expose the durability issues that comes from the shrinking black talent pool in the current caste era.

I agree Colonel. Hardesty is unproven and Hillis has shown he's one of the best backs in the league and certainly much better than many of the "real runningbacks" drafted before him. If Hillis sees a significant decrease in carries next season or is no longer a starter it would certainly wake a few DWF's up. Even they would be able to see the caste system at work in its full glory.

If anything, pair Hillis with a scatback not a "power back" that couldn't hold Hillis' jock strap!

If anything, pair Hillis with a scatback, not a "power back" that couldn't hold Hillis' jock strap!

no way would I want to see a scatback come in for Hillis. I wouldn't mind seeing a guy come in to give Hillis a breather one in a while, Michael Turner has Snelling who has around 100+ touches rush/rec, MJD has Jennings who has 65 touches, Chris Johnson has Javon Ringer who has 56 touches, Mendenhall has Redman who has 58 touches, Ray Rice has McGahee who has 103 touches. I think the ideal situation is for the backup to Hillis to have around 50 to 60 touches like CJ and MJD.

All of those backs have avged higher than the feature back except for McGahee. The problem for Hillis is that if HIS backup were to show any remote ability to run the ball, even if it were at a lower level than Hillis, people would want that guy to take even more snaps, so especially not a scat back to back him up, if the guy averages 1 ypc and breaks off one big one people will be screaming for that guy to get more carries. That is the scenario people have brought up countless times, have Hillis wear down the defense and then let a smaller back get carries later in the game, this would not be good for Hillis, the big gains that Hillis would be getting after the d is worn out would now go to the scatback. A duo does not have to be thunder lightning, Snelling is much slower than Turner, and Turner, despite putting up a fast 40, has average speed for a halfback. Shonn Greene and LT are another duo. Lt is not explosive as he was in the past, and has a long of 31, Greene has a long of 21, yet this duo works great.

Mike Bell is the ideal backup to Hillis, and should get about 50 carries a season like I stated earlier. Right now, Mike Bell only has 19 touches. Harrison had 31, but most of those came within a 2 game stretch at the beginning of the season. He isn't going to break off any big runs and not much of a receiving threat or pass blocker, but can average around 3.5 ypc with decent blocking while Hillis take a breather. He isn't a threat to replace Hillis, any back who is half as good as Hillis is a threat to take significant carries away since he is a white back. The fact that Mike Bell has 1.6 ypc shows how great of a runner Hillis really is because Bell has averaged 3.7 ypc for his career, while not a great number, its much higher than 1.6 ypc. I don't think Hillis is wearing down, it would just make him more effective late in games. They would need more receiving threats and better play calling for Bell to avg over 3 ypc, and this could raise Hillis ypc up to 5+. I still think Hillis has the ability to avg close to 6 ypc, he was avging over 5 in Denver when he was carrying about 10 pounds of fullback weight, and his ypc was getting better each game.

All of these articles about Hillis wearing down are ridiculous, talking about how he is "ONLY" averaging 4 ypc the past few games, even though other feature backs like Ray Rice, Mendenhall are right at the 4 ypc mark for the season. Michael Turner has been very mediocre the past 3 weeks, avging 3.6 ypc against teams that are poor against the run, is he wearing down? Chris Johnson had a total of 125 rushing yards in 2 games avg 3.2 ypc before his bye week, and then seemed to wear down again 2 weeks after the bye, getting only 5 yards on 7 carries against a poor Houston defense. Is he wearing down? The only thing weenie world said about him is that he has been revitalized because Kerry Collins throwing to Britt is stopping teams from putting 8 and 9 in the box. Hillis is still facing that situation and having still having success. Steven Jackson is also averaging 3.6 ypc the past 4 games, I wonder if he is wearing down?

I already mentioned in a previous post about the amount of touches Peterson has had in his career, and has missed time due to ligament damage in his knee, and hamstring issues, almost identical to Hillis, except Hillis only missed practice because of a sore knee, ONE PRACTICE, no articles about Peterson wearing down and not being able to be the feature back, even though he is injured right now. Nor were there tons of articles about the 18 fumbles he had in 2 seasons. Also, no mention on MJD being worn down, he hasn't practiced twice this week because of a knee injury. They are trying to pound these messages into dwfs heads so that when/if they reduce his role to about half of the carries, they won't be asking why.
Edited by: snow

I agree. The mediakeeps mentioning Hillis "wearing down" -- it's so obvious they don'twant him to continue at a high level or don't think he's capable of it -- but he continues to pile up good yardage totals in a one-dimensional offense.




He's only 24, Cleveland should ride the bull as their workhorse for a few more years. What they need to do is fire their offensive coordinator and replace him with a competent one, buttress the right side of the line, make it official that Colt McCoy is their starting QB, convert Evan Moore into a WR, and upgrade the rest of their receiving corps. Heaven help us if we get another offseason filled with bs about how much Brian Robiskie is coming along. Edited by: Don Wassall

Hillis has 252 carries this season so far. That's significantly less than Maurice Jones Drew(299), Michael Turner(300), and Rashard Mendehall (310). Hillis is bigger and stronger than all of them so he should have no problem and certainly isn't "wearing down" like they want us to believe. If a 208 lb back like Jones-Drew can handle so many attempts, than Hillis can as well. At least now the media credits him with being a running back and not a hybrid type. Baby steps is the key.

Fifty years ago, some in the sports media were saying that Jim Brown was "wearing down." For a Christmas present in 1960, I got a subscription to Sport magazine. The December 1960 issue had a story called "Is Jimmy Brown's Career in Danger?" The piece speculated that Jimmy Brown was being overworked.

By the way, he was called "Jimmy" most of the time until his last year or so in the league. Edited by: sport historian

(Also posted in the Week 16 thread.)

Besides so many media "experts" writing (hoping) that Hillis is wearing down, the other big story for Sunday getting a lot of play is the Ravens' determination to shut Hillis down in the rematch of Week 3, when Peyton rushed for 144 yards against what was supposed to be Baltimore's impregnable run defense.

Given the Browns' woeful group of receivers and lack of imagination in the play calling of runs, it looks favorable for the Ravens. But -- if Hillis can have another big game, that would really be huge for his status and reputation.The game'sat Cleveland, which should help. The Browns have been playing hard every week, so maybe TheJuggernaut can do it again.

Hillis won't sneak up on Ravens this time

By Dan Kolko, <ABBR title=2010-12-24T10:38:04-05:00>December 24, 2010 10:38 AM</ABBR> | 0 Comments

When the Ravens faced the Browns back on Sept. 26, Peyton Hillis was still mostly known as the guy who Cleveland had acquired from the Broncos (along with a sixth-round draft pick) in return for the useless Brady Quinn.



Going into that game, the Ravens knew Hills would start for the Browns at running back, but they admit that they didn't really have a good idea of what they were up against.


"I think the first time that we played him, first of all, nobody really knew who he was," defensive coordinator Greg Mattison said.


Hillis torched the Ravens for 144 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries in that Week 3 matchup. He ripped off a 48-yard run, a 25-yard run, and plowed through the Ravens for what was then a career-best day.


This time, you can bet the Ravens will know what to expect when they see the third-year running back this Sunday in Cleveland.


"We watched a little bit of film this morning on our first game, and it just wasn't good," linebacker Jarret Johnson said. "Nobody really wanted to watch. Everybody was wanting to get up and go to the bathroom. He's a good running back, really good scheme, and it's a really big challenge for us this week."


"Obviously, he's a really talented guy," head coach John Harbaugh said. "He complements their offensive line very well. They come off the ball. They're very physical. They run pretty much every I-formation running scheme there is, and they do it really effectively. And that's the kind of back he is. So, they just complement each other well.


"He's a hard runner. He's tough to bring down. If he gets in your secondary, he's really tough to bring down."


Hillis has followed up his big game against the Ravens by posting four more games of at least 100 yards rushing. He has 1,129 rushing yards on the season, and 13 total touchdowns (11 on the ground, two through the air).


Along the way, he's showed off his toughness, his speed - for a big guy - and his surprising pass catching ability.


In addition to the damage he's done on the ground, the three-year veteran, who checks in at a rugged 6-1, 240 pounds, also leads the Browns in receptions with 59 and is second on the team in receiving yards with 469.


"He's got incredible hands - like Ray Rice's-type hands," Cleveland coach Eric Mangini said. "I mean, they're both guys that seem to catch everything that's thrown to them."


As they've studied Hillis this week, the Ravens have found a couple chinks in his armor.


Hillis has a tendency to put the ball on the ground (he has eight fumbles on the season, five of which have been lost), and he struggles if you can force him to slow his momentum and change directions in the hole.


"He doesn't really like to run sideways and cut down," defensive tackle Haloti Ngata said. "So, we know that if we just close those holes for him to go through, then he's going to have to run sideways, and we can probably get him better that way."


That was information that the Ravens might not have had when they faced Hillis back in September. This time, they say they'll be prepared for what the bruising running back will bring at them.


"Now we know what to expect," defensive end Cory Redding said, "and we can come out there and play good football."
http://www.masnsports.com/dan_kolko/2010/12/hillis-wont-sneak-up-on-ravens-this-time.html

"and he struggles if you can force him to slow his momentum and change directions in the hole"

""He doesn't really like to run sideways and cut down," defensive tackle Haloti Ngata said. "So, we know that if we just close those holes for him to go through, then he's going to have to run sideways, and we can probably get him better that way."

I haven't noticed a problem with Hillis having to change directions in the hole, in fact it happened it happened when they played the Ravens, he was forced to cut inside and change after the initial hole closed up, Ray Lewis was in position to make the tackle but Hillis went through his arms, I don't know if Lewis whiffed because he was afraid of a 240 pound man coming straight at him, but Hillis was definetly at full steam, he barely had to slow down to change direction, now its not as fast as a scatback, but its right up there with guys that are top in the league like Steven Jackson, and if when he doesn't have enough to make a defender completely miss, his balance makes up for it, as he can easily break through a tackle if the defender doesn't have good position to tackle once he changes direction. The only time he has problems is when there is nowhere else to go, this happens often where everything is crowded, their aren't enough blockers for all of the defenders or the line fails to hold their blocks, this is a problem for every back. This is usually when Hillis lowers his shoulders and plows forward (although he sometimes does this in the open field to dbs and the occasional linebacker, to them think twice about tackling him later on, also sets them up later in the game, they brace for contact, plant their feet in the ground and Hillis will sidestep). Then there is one black lineman for the Browns who always seems to be on the ground, and several times it has slowed Hillis down because he goes to change direction only to have to jump or step over his own blocker.

Sounds like they are making excuses, I know qbs have had success until there was game film on them, but this isnt true for runningbacks. It isn't that hard to make an in game adjustment, or at halftime. They are hoping that he isn't 100 percent along with the poor play calling and execution to talk themselves up.

I pray that he is healthy and hope he has a monster game against them.

Ray Lewis loves to yap. He inherited this mantle from guys like Deacon Jones. Trust me they knew who he was. Now they might have thought he was a run of the mill back but every team has staffers that get video of all key players all week. Shoot all you have to do is scour Youtube and you will find Broncos highlights of Hillis...Edited by: white is right

Big deal...the Ravens just loaded the box & stacked to sell out to stop the run. If Hillis had a better OL, he would have still gained 100. Ray "The Shanker" Lewis is a overrated & can't hold Dick Butkus' jock on his best day (& Dick's worst).

Hillis said the back injury did affect his peformance, x rays came up negative, but x rays can't tell everything for back problems. I pray everything is okay, he said he will play next week as long as he can walk

but wtf is this crap

Browns left tackle Joe Thomas was so impressed with running back Mike
Bell, who subbed for the injured Peyton Hillis (back) that he feels
confident Bell could've had over 100 yards if the Browns hadn't fallen
behind and gone to the air. It's a bold statement considering the Ravens
have only give up eight 100-yarder rushers in their last 82 games.


"If it would've been a one-score game in the second half and we
would've been able to continue to run the ball, I think Mike would've
been the guy getting the ball,'' said Thomas. "Who knows, but I think we
would've had a great chance of getting him over 100 yards.''

Hillis still should have made the Pro Bowl... The AFC RB's who made it are all deserving, but so is PH. Puts him in the Aaron Rodgers category.