DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Can Hillis stay healthy?

The guy is an awesome train wreck on just about every play. I pray he can keep it up. I don't mean to be a buzz kill, but he delivers and takes such a pounding you have to be concerned. From what I saw of Bell today, it's not just a matter of reloading God forbid something happens.

You just have to look at Earl Campbell to see what you should and shouldn't do with peyton. WIth that said, I hope hardesty comes back in full form next year to hopefully alleviate any concerns we may have.

I think so. He has never carried the load so you dont know but his body doesnt have that normal wear and tear from being the guy in college and then being the guy in denver. He was a 3rd at Arkansas and a 5th stringer in Denver so he is fresh.

The thing with Hillis he doesnt take as many shots as most will think. Not many people want to hit the guy. Most of those big hits, he is the one lowering the boom on the defender. They dont want to go low because he will jump over. They dont want to go high because well he may kill them. so they are grabbing on holding him until help arrives.

He plays a punishing style though, dude... I get jfanent's point.
Backs like that can have a short shelf life. He's tough, but Peyton is colliding with snarling big guys at a high rate of speed.

You never know what can happen...the man does take a beating every game. Injuries can be a strange thing though, and the guy doesn't seem like he's injury prone (he gets banged up for a few plays, but nothing serious).

The most positive thing I can think of is that he hasn't had a lot of carries the few years he's been in the NFL and even in college, so he should have a lot of tread left in the tires. And he's still pretty young. However, he might not be used to carrying the load for 16 games either.

The real question: can AFCN defenses stay healthy playing this offense twice a year?

I know, we are pretty damn physical.

We do have Hardesty in our back pocket.

I heard a rumor that the Bengals' secondary is thinking about boycotting their next game with the Browns unless they get better medical coverage

The obvious concern is whether or not he can hold up. Hopefully Hardesty can come back next year and the two can split carries. I will say that Hillis has relatively fresh legs. He wasn't a big carry getter at Arkansas or in Denver. Ideally, Hillis and Hardesty end up splitting carries right down the middle, and both stay fresh and healthy while gaining over 1,000 yards each.

Funny you should say this... I had a conversation about this right after the game. He runs so upright and his first instinct is to run toward the open field defender you've got to think he's definitely burning the candle. Only time will tell I guess but I know this much... take him out and the Browns whole equation breaks down. We have NO other back (Bell looks awful). With out him we have to lean on the passing game.... uh, yea. As good as Colt's looked, he WILL look worse if he doesn't have a solid running game. Any QB would. And the defense would be on the field AT LEAST 5 to 10 more minutes a game. Seriously, the whole thing breaks down without him.

I've had the same concerns.

As fun as this is to watch ... logic dictates that it cannot sustain.

Hillis needs relief.

I sure hope so, because a back of his type is really, REALLY great to have in December....especially in Cleveland.

Quote:

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I know, we are pretty damn physical.

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that still looks weird on my screen:
Browns = physical.


Damn, I wish Joey Porter was still playing for Pittsburgh. I'd love to hear him say "the Browns are soft" just before a game with us... then have to stare down the tracks as that Vickers/Hillis Nightmare Express approaches.

The Browns are becoming hardasses.

Waitaminnit... I just have to say that again... to make sure it's real.

The Browns are becoming hardasses.

damn. that feels good.

I dont see why he can't hold up . . . he takes no more beating that AP. And AP has been in the league a few years now as well.


On a side note, I was impressed by his football smarts too, running for 10 yards than sliding to a knee to roll the clock at the end of a ballgame. . .

People keep forgeting about Hardesty is also extremelly talented in his own right.

I LOVED reading this. Also, I went over to the Broncs board and they have a post that's a Poll for worst trade of the McDaniels Era. There's like 10 choices and the Hillis trade has 66% of the vote. Everyone is just lamenting. I hate the Broncos (child of the 80's) almost as much as any team so it warms the evil little cockels of heart. In fact, I found this article posted over there.

Link

Browns, Hillis capitalize on terrible Broncos trade

By Charles Robinson, Yahoo! Sports
6 hours, 48 minutes ago


Maybe the hooded sweatshirt was hanging over Josh McDaniels’ eyes the entire 2009 season. Or maybe he never took the time to watch all of the Denver Broncos’ game film from 2008. Or maybe Mike Holmgen and the Cleveland Browns’ new front office is a whole lot smarter than we realized.


Or maybe there’s no reasonable explanation for how Peyton Hillis(notes) ended up where he is – sparking the suddenly feisty Browns, and leaving Broncos fans writhing in agony over the worst trade of last offseason.

Where is Brady Quinn(notes) these days? You’ll find him scraping barnacles off the bottom of the depth chart, languishing behind Tim Tebow(notes). Yes, that’s the guy whom McDaniels traded Hillis for – he of the career 66.8 quarterback rating and 52 percent completion rate. And it wasn’t even a straight up player-for-player deal. Denver kicked in a sixth-round pick in 2011 and a conditional pick in 2012 to sweeten the pot. Nothing like a couple of bamboo shoots under the fingernails on draft day to remind fans of a team’s brain-searing roster machinations.

Of course, you could give Hoodie Jr. a pass and say that there was no way McDaniels could have known Hillis would be a player who almost singlehandedly destroyed Hoodie Sr. (Bill Belichick) and the Patriots, en route to 220 yards from scrimmage (including 184 yards rushing) and two touchdowns – a guy who through eight games is on pace to rush for 1,288 yards and score 16 total touchdowns.


You could say McDaniels couldn’t have known, and you’d be right. He couldn’t, because McDaniels never took the time to try and know what Hillis was capable of accomplishing. Despite Hillis’ five yards per carry average and five TDs in a meager 68 rushing attempts in 2008, he didn’t get a sniff when McDaniels took over. Instead, the new regime, in its infinite wisdom, went out of its way to try almost anyone at running back other than Hillis. They drafted Knowshon Moreno(notes), signed J.J. Arrington(notes) (then cut him and signed him again), and scooped up injury-addled veterans Correll Buckhalter(notes) and LaMont Jordan(notes). And into the abyss Hillis went, never to be heard from again in 2009, save for 13 meaningless carries in 14 games.


The truth is, McDaniels never believed in Hillis, and the running back said as much when he joined Cleveland this offseason. Maybe only Hillis believed in himself, since nobody in the media (including me) was shooting a thumbs-up in Cleveland’s direction at the time of the deal. Just like nobody talked about Hillis when they lauded the sick talent in the University of Arkansas’ backfield in 2007, yammering non-stop about Darren McFadden(notes) and Felix Jones(notes), and almost never saying a word about Hillis.


Hindsight is cruel in the NFL, and Hillis’ success is downright merciless for a Broncos team that can’t run the football (last in the NFL heading into this weekend) and has watched Moreno struggle to stay on the field.

So Hillis delivers the two-pronged entry this week, making Denver’s shortsightedness a loser, and Cleveland’s sheer luck a winner. I have a feeling both cities will be talking about this trade for years to come.

Don't you just love it

Hey guys, I'm a Razorback fan.

Just checking in to see what you think about Peyton Hills?


As far as injuries.

While Peyton is one tough dude, he was somewhat injury prone while at Arkansas. He broke a bone in his back as a Freshman. He was supposed to miss 5 or 6 weeks and I think he missed 2 weeks.

As a junior he got a calcium deposit in his quadraceps and missed our last three games. We lost against LSU (last regular season game) VS Florida in the SEC champinship game and the Capital One bowl against Wisconsin. All three games were close and I feel quite sure we'd have won all three with Peyton. Peyton would have caught that pass on a couple of critical 3rd down, thrown the block that sprung DMac for a couple of more TD's and we'd have won.

I love Peyton, but he hasn't been particuarly durable.

Is Peyton wearing thigh pads?

The reason he got that calcium depost was because he wasn't wearing thigh pads. He got a hard lick on his thigh and the bruise developed into a calcium deposit in the muscle. Atleast, that's the way I heard it.

My concern (besides can he be healthy) is who is going to spell him now? The way Bell was walking off the field yesterday, he was pretty hurt.

Bell certainly isn't a world beater, but at least he was a body who could go in and give Hillis a break.

FYI, I hope everybody is listening to Mike & Mike. It's a Hillis LOVE-FEST . . .

http://www.nfl.com/stats/player

I just looked up his attempts this year. He is 14th with 133 carries. He does seem to run violently but I'm not so sure he takes (or gives) that many big hits if you consider the lack of carries. btw he is averaging 4.8 ypc.

Check out this video: John Clayton breaks down the deal sending Brady Quinn to Denver for FB Peyton Hillis and two draft picks

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4995232

New desktop background.

I love that facemask..

Yeah me too, reminds me of a caged animal or a muzzle.

A muzzle for a big bruising Dawg... I like that, AD4.

I was commenting sunday that it literally looked like a cow catcher on the front of a Semi.