I don't know if Hardesty SHOULD cut into Peyton's carries. I have been watching his college footage. Hes not a speed back like people said he would be, he looks kind of lumbering, he gets caught in the open field pretty much on all of his plays, and this is in college, so he definitely isn't a speed back. His agility isn't that great He reminds me a little bit of Brandon Jacobs if he were 225 pounds a 6 foot. He has good vision and balance, and a good amount of power, but there isn't anything he can do that Peyton can't, except for a spin move which the two instances I saw, weren't needed, Peyton could have found multiple ways to get past those 2 guys. Hardesty is a powerback weighing 25 pounds less than Hillis, and he has a pretty long build, more like a big wide receiver which will leave him more prone to injury which he has had quite a bit in his career. He has had only one good college season, his 100 yard games came against WKU, Ohio, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. I don't know if people remember but South Carolina wasn't good against the run, and Kentucky was TERRIBLE, pretty much every back had their career day against Kentucky in 09, and of course Vandy isn't good most years. I remember because of arguing whether Ingram faced better competition in the SEC compared to Gerhart. Hardesty had a pretty mediocre day against UCLA with 3 ypc. Tennessee looked to have some good zone blocking plays, which is where he mainly excelled. He won't do that well behind the Cleveland line. Cleveland does use some zone blocking but those holes he had at Tenn will mostly be small creases (if there is something there at all). I was hoping he was a little faster so they could mix it up, line him up in the slot with Hillis at tailback, a few trick plays like a reverse so he can hit the outside. Reading up on Greg Little, he was a rb the first two seasons of college, so I think they have plans to do that with him as well, they seem to be found of running plays like that.
I can see Hillis getting around the same touches as last year, if they use him right over 5 yards per carry. My guess is they will try to use Hardesty and Hillis as a 1 2 combo but it won't work as well as they hoped. You have to remember last year didn't have double digit carries last year the first two games either. This year probably won't be any different the first few games with splitting carries , Hillis will not be denied though. The problem with last year wasn't just the right side of the line, it was the play calling. Daboli would have a 4 receiver set, knowing good and well that none of those guys were really a threat, out of shotgun, and have Hillis run to the right. If the new staff is smart they will just line up the few threats they have, run more power plays tight end heavy sets, i formation saying, were going to run it this way, try and stop us. They have Joe Thomas, Alex Mack is a great center, and the left guard isn't bad and can hold his own between those two guys, really good in space. They were able to run right a few times, it was just the playcalling that was key. He had a big run against the Bengals and the Patriots td run was to the right as well. The key was lining Vickers up to the right, have Steinbach pull and go to that side. There are a few ways overcome the lack of talent at RG and RT but it can be done. The new coach used to be a offensive line coach before becoming a coordinator so hopefully he can do it.
Looking at their schedule I changed my prediction a little bit, they get to play the NFC West. The problem last year on top of playing their tough division, crappy right side of the line and bad playcalling, 3 different quarterbacks was that the non division schedule was tough as well. Now they play the 49ers, Seahawks, Rams, Raiders, Cardinals, Colts. These should all be big games for him. Last year the cupcake games for the backs in his division were Bucs, where he got less than 10 carries the first game, and Buffalo, where he was slightly injured and it was raining. I expect everyone in the division to have an increase in production, with Hillis at the top for ypc and Ray Rice behind him. The only problem is the last stretch of the season, Ravens and Steelers back to back, then the Cardinals as a breather, then the Ravens and the Steelers back to back again. Hopefully this won't bring his ypc down too much and the Browns have some rhythm going.
272 carries for 1400 yards 5.1 ypc 13 touchdowns with a long of 55, 40 receptions for 350 yards 2 touchdowns. and I predict he cuts the fumbles down to 3.
Edited by: snow
