In my last post I looked at the depth we had at running back this past season. Now let's look at the stud we all know and love, The Juggernaut Peyton Hillis himself.

Peyton Hillis:

G Rush Yds Y/G Avg TD Rec Yds Y/G Avg TD

16 270 1177 73.6 4.3   11   61   477 29.8 7.8   2

            We received Hillis as a part of the deal that sent good old Brady Quinn to Denver. People were claiming that it was a terrible trade because we were sending a franchise QB in exchange for a RB/FB hybrid that nobody had ever heard of. Oh did we prove those people wrong, but I digress. It looked like Peyton Hillis was coming in to be a change of pace RB for our bona-fide starter Jerome Harrison. Hillis came out and showed us that he was a bruising style runner whom would be a good complement to our finesse rusher Harrison.

            Hillis started out decently strong. In the first game he scored a touchdown, but he also fumbled the ball that helped us lose that game. But we didn’t think much about him after that. But he came in the next game against KC and scored yet again. Again we didn’t think too much about it. Finally in the third game against the ratbirds he came in and tore it up. He had 144 yards rushing with another touchdown. He was really standing out now. And thus, after that game he became our starter.

            Hillis continued to perform at a high level for the whole year. He became our offensive playmaker, for a team that was lacking that for the past few seasons. He added spice to a team that had a bland offense, had no playmakers, and quite honestly had nobody to fear. Then came good old Hillis and he gave teams somebody to fear. I will say he wasn’t perfect; he had a real penchant for losing the ball, something that many talking heads equated to his huge muscles. All jokes aside that was a real issue for us, since we lost some games on account of his fumbles. He also had a very injury prone style of running, that even involved jumping over would be tacklers. That is very dangerous, and it increases the chance of fumbling exponentially.  

            I am really looking forward to watching him play again next year. He has great hands for a RB, and he will fit into our West-coast style well. It will also be great to have him for the Cleveland winter. With Hardesty backing him up we should find a great tandem of RBs to strike fear into opposing defenses. I think that RB is our biggest strength, and I am wholly excited to see what we can do next year and in following years.

            Emily will write an article on the receivers next. Continue to comment and tell me how to improve these. Thanks!