State of the Bengals: Running Back

[*SHRacerX*]

(01-02-2017, 02:22 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Your post reads like a brochure trying to sell Cook.

Call me stubborn, but I'm not convinced Hill is as much a part of the problem as you let on. For one, his YPC was dragged down severely by playing these last few games hurt before they finally shut him down. Earlier in the season - even outside of the Cleveland games - his YPC was nearly identical to Gio's, and either way you want to slice it...Gio's YPC was bad.

Once again, we finished 20th or worse in YPC, which has happened every year from 2006-present outside of Hill's rookie season. So this isn't just a one year thing. It's a decade long problem. I couldn't care less about Hill anymore. Go ahead and replace him, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see a Fournette or a Cook get labeled a bust in this system with this blocking.

I would argue that Gio's YPC suffered from the same predictability problem of Hill's.  Gio would be given sweeps, etc, where he would be expected to try and get outside, which often exposed the weakness of the RT.  I look at what Rex did down the stretch and although I really like Rex, I don't see him as a first ballot HOF player....I think he is a very good talent and can be successful in a number of ways but he really looked so much better than Hill.  It seems as though Hill has lost his burst that he had as a rookie.  

The blocking has been an issue, but I think that with the right complement of weapons on the field, the running game can improve tremendously with the same line that we finished the year with.