Cleveland Browns general manager Tom Heckert joined PFT Live on Wednesday to talk about the team's draft. He also had some comments about the team's running back situation:
Heckert said he has "high hopes" for second year player Montario Hardesty. Heckert also said it was his fault they didn’t get Hillis more help last year.
"He can do it, but in the long term we’re rather him not carry the ball that much," Heckert said.
I assume that when Heckert refers to carries, he means the number of touches that Peyton Hillis had. In Week 9 against the Patriots, Hillis had 32 touches. He followed that with 23, 27, 32, 25, and 25 touches in consecutive weeks before finally wearing down. During certain stretches of games, Hillis would be overworked in a series and needed a breather. His replacement was either absent or ineffective (Mike Bell). The idea to me would not be to necessarily lessen Hillis' carries, but to make sure he is spelled by Hardesty for a play or two here and there. 3 carries, 2 plays off, and 3 carries should keep him fresher than 6-8 consecutive carries.