From the Rocky Mountain News. Hillis is ideal for the one cut downhill running style that Shanahan likes. We have to hope he is color blind when it comes to what's best for his team:
<H1 ="line">Broncos' Hillis adds power back to running game</H1>
Doug Hillis turned 44 Saturday, so his son, Peyton, called his family home in Conway, Ark., to give his father a birthday greeting.
"I asked my dad what he wanted for his birthday and he said, 'I want 100 yards rushing and two touchdowns,' " said Hillis, the Broncos' rookie fullback.
Considering that Hillis entered Sunday's game against the New York Jets with all of 156 yards rushing for his NFL career, Doug Hillis' request seemed like a tall order.
"But I knew coming in that it was going to be a good game for me," said the 6-foot-2, 250-pound bruising back. "I was real motivated, and I had a lot of confidence. I always want to expect the best."
On his first carry Sunday, Hills broke through for 19 yards. It was only the beginning of some great things to come.
Hillis rushed for 129 yards on 22 carries and if it weren't for a holding penalty in the third quarter that nullified a 14-yard touchdown run, he would have made good on his father's birthday wish. His performance stood out in the Broncos' 34-17 victory.
In any case, the rookie will take the 100-yard game (the Broncos' first 100-yard performance since Michael Pittman went for 109 yards against Jacksonville on Oct. 12) and hope that there are more such performances in the future.
"You have to have confidence in yourself," Hillis said. "I bet about 99.9 percent of the people didn't think I could do it, but I definitely did. My teammates have confidence in me and so do the coaches. They believe in me as well. I did the best that I could out there, and that's all I can ask for."
The Broncos have had a litany of injuries in the backfield and have started five players at running back over the past six weeks. But maybe Hillis is ready to break that trend.
"He's sure looking like the man there," quarterback Jay Cutler said. "Peyton is a hard runner and he hits the holes hard. He breaks his share of tackles as well. It's going to be interesting to see what's going to happen, but I know he's not going to give up that position easily."
Coach Mike Shanahan, who has developed a ton of unsung backs and turned them into stars for the Broncos over the years, was impressed with the rookie's outing.
"You could see right away that Peyton had confidence," Shanahan said. "His confidence has been coming in recent weeks, and it was just a matter of time before he had a game like this. The game plan coming in was to develop more of a power running game, and that fits his style. I knew he would have some success running the ball today and this was an excellent defensive team we faced."
Hillis said that he didn't concern himself with the wet conditions.
"There might have been other guys fumbling the ball out there, but I made sure I had it every time," Hillis said.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/nov/30/broncos-hi llis-runs-over-tough-jets-defense/?partner=RSS Edited by: Don Wassall