After an impressive rookie campaign in which he gained over 1,100 yards rushing and established himself as a brand name, Cincinnati Bengals running back Jeremy Hill suffered through a sophomore slump in 2015. Now headed into the 2016 season, there are many lingering questions about his role and production, but it may all be moot once he hits the field.
Cincinnati Bengals running back Jeremy Hill took the NFL by storm in 2015, gaining 1,124 yards on the ground and scoring nine touchdowns as a rookie. However, that campaign was not to be followed up by something similar as Hill hit the sophomore wall, finishing last season with only 794 yards rushing.
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Despite the significant reduction in yardage, Hill still capitalized on some key opportunities, scoring an impressive 11 rushing touchdowns, while adding a 12th through the air. But the alarming statistic was his substantial drop in yards per carry, which fell from 5.1 in 2015 to 3.6 in 2016.
Also plummeting were Hill’s yards after contact, which dropped from 2.29 in 2014 to 1.46 in 2015. And while those numbers seem small in size, they flip-flopped Hill’s NFL ranking, going from fourth-best in the league in 2014 to fourth-worst in the league in 2015.
Needless to say, it’s no surprise the Bengals extended the contract of Giovani Bernard, putting Hill’s post-2016 future with the team in potential jeopardy.
The good news for Hill? He turned it on over the final few games of last season and once again began showing flashes of the back seen in 2014. And while his Playoff fumble may be what defines his late-season performances, there was a ray of hope in the way he played and the display of maturity beyond his years in the face of seemingly relentless criticism.
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“There is no running from it,” Hill told Cincinnati.com in May. “I embrace it. I embrace the challenge. I embrace the doubters, the negative, all that stuff. It’s great. It’s part of football. The great competitors, the great athletes all embrace it. I see myself as no different. I’m going to continue to embrace it every day, face it every day and wait for my opportunity to overcome that.
“Obviously when something like that happens they get the blame and you blame that person. I get it. That’s the business. That’s how it works. I’m totally fine accepting that and I embrace that. For me, it’s going to help me this offseason because once you have the season I had and that moment at the end of that season it can only go up from there. That’s how I’m looking at it and how it will be. If anything it motivated me as a player and will continue to help me for the rest of my career.”
Along with the aforementioned resurgence down the stretch last season, Hill’s maturity and fearless attitude make for a great combination. He’s a back who understands he has what it takes to be successful at the NFL level — something he’s already proven to himself and others — and now just needs to refine his craft.
If Hill can avoid some of the timidness and indecisiveness that plagued him last season, there’s no reason he can’t return to the 1,000-yard back he was as a rookie. Even with Bernard earning his fair share of the snaps, Hill should once again become the powerful bell cow back the Bengals would ideally like him to be.
The only person that can possibly stop him is himself.