How about Hillis?

[Ziggy]

Peyton somehow not only managed to work his way out of Shanahan's doghouse, but into the playcalling. He showed what he can do when the Broncos actually use him. He went from not starting to being the best player on the field on offense this game. This is what most of us envisioned when he was drafted. Nice coming out party Peyton. Too bad it had to happen during a loss.

[NightTrainLayne]

I enjoyed every minute of his performance. He was ready to play under the lights, and did a great job.

Let's keep putting him to work!

[JKcatch724]

Did I miss something? Why was he ever in Shanny's doghouse?

[Peerless]

I always knew Hillis was a gifted athlete, especially for a full back.

But I never thought he would lead the team in receiving...ever.

Did you see his footwork after one reception down the sideline? Talk about sweet feet...

[Peerless]

Did I miss something? Why was he ever in Shanny's doghouse?

I don't think he was EVER in Shanny's doghouse...

That's just pure bunk.


Shanny just loved seeing that big hit that Larsen laid on that kick off or punt, and decided it was his turn to show what he could do at the FB position.


And I could've sworn that Hillis had some other family matters or something to deal with which made him miss a game....

[BroncoTech]

Makes you wonder what other hidden gems lay in Shanny's dog house.

[Davii]

Hillis was impressive.

The only thing that made me happy about yesterdays debacle was his performance.

[Cutler6MVP]

Can anyone say Chris Cooley?

[Peerless]

Can anyone say Chris Cooley?

Lining Hillis up on the line like Cooley does will just take his playmaking ability away.


From yesterday, you saw that Hillis works a LOT better in open space, then being jammed at the LOS.

[Traveler]

Finally glad to see the team use Hillis' strength. Too bad injuries had to force them to realize his value to the offense.

[LRtagger]

Lining Hillis up on the line like Cooley does will just take his playmaking ability away.


From yesterday, you saw that Hillis works a LOT better in open space, then being jammed at the LOS.

Not sure how people missed this, but most of Hillis' catches in the first half came when he was playing as the outside WR on the LOS.

[Peerless]

Not sure how people missed this, but most of Hillis' catches in the first half came when he was playing as the outside WR on the LOS.

He didn't line up as the receiver.....

[G_Money]

Shanny didn't like his blocking. Hillis has said Shanny didn't like his blocking. That's to be expected - West Coast blocking is far, FAR different than what Hillis did at Arkansas. It takes a while to get good at both 1-cut run blocking and pro pass protections.

Which is why I never understood trying to make a linebacker learn them. Yes, Hillis needs work at it, and if the choice was Pittman over Hillis I would get it, but LARSEN? C'mon.

Hillis is an offensive weapon. He's a monster to tackle. When his redneck ass figures out blocking in our scheme he'll be a beast. I'm so glad he had a beastly game as far as receptions go, because I was starting to worry he was gonna go be somebody else's monster. Now at least he might stick around a while.

He's not a natural FB. He's a RB who converted because DMC and Felix Jones were in his backfield. He's GOOD with the rock in his hands.

Which is why the next thing I'd like to see are some freakin' carries for him. With Pittman out, Young still broken, Hall in shambles and the doghouse after the fumbles, and Torain just trying to get back into the feel of football, why not give the rock to the hardest-to-bring-down back we have?

Hillis is a punishing runner. Let him punish someone. What's it gonna hurt? He can't average less than the .5 YPC we were pulling in the Dolphins game, and he can't put the ball on the ground more often than Hall's twice-in-two-carries.

Play the kid. He has hands like that and can shed the first tackler. See if he can imrpove our suddenly-disastrous ground game too. Good showing Peyton. It should have earned you at least another week in the lineup.

Go take advantage of it.

~G

[jrelway]

he needs to play more. doghouse or not. its pretty clear that LB'ers cant cover this guy. maybe this will take some focus off marshall and royal if hillis plays more. wake up shanny.

[LRtagger]

He didn't line up as the receiver.....

He most certainly did. I watched him lineup in the second quarter as widest receiver on Jay's right side and a couple times on Jay's left. I saw him catch at least 2 or 3 passes lined up wide.

[broncofaninfla]

I was happy to see Hillis finally get his shot and he definitely made the most of it. Too bad the rest of the offense didn't match his intensity and step up. Royal and Hillis seemed to be the only offensive players that wanted to be playing on this past Sunday. Hillis showed why he is more valuable than Larsen at FB, his play making ability. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

[smith49]

STUD! and its about time they started using him.

[atwater27]

Did we hit the gold mine on offense in this draft or what?

[Tned]

Shanny didn't like his blocking. Hillis has said Shanny didn't like his blocking. That's to be expected - West Coast blocking is far, FAR different than what Hillis did at Arkansas. It takes a while to get good at both 1-cut run blocking and pro pass protections.

Which is why I never understood trying to make a linebacker learn them. Yes, Hillis needs work at it, and if the choice was Pittman over Hillis I would get it, but LARSEN? C'mon.

Hillis is an offensive weapon. He's a monster to tackle. When his redneck ass figures out blocking in our scheme he'll be a beast. I'm so glad he had a beastly game as far as receptions go, because I was starting to worry he was gonna go be somebody else's monster. Now at least he might stick around a while.

He's not a natural FB. He's a RB who converted because DMC and Felix Jones were in his backfield. He's GOOD with the rock in his hands.

Which is why the next thing I'd like to see are some freakin' carries for him. With Pittman out, Young still broken, Hall in shambles and the doghouse after the fumbles, and Torain just trying to get back into the feel of football, why not give the rock to the hardest-to-bring-down back we have?

Hillis is a punishing runner. Let him punish someone. What's it gonna hurt? He can't average less than the .5 YPC we were pulling in the Dolphins game, and he can't put the ball on the ground more often than Hall's twice-in-two-carries.

Play the kid. He has hands like that and can shed the first tackler. See if he can imrpove our suddenly-disastrous ground game too. Good showing Peyton. It should have earned you at least another week in the lineup.

Go take advantage of it.

~G

I just posted in the Pittman/Hall IR thread about how Hillis was converted to FB, and that he should be able to pickup some of the RB load depending on how Torain does. He had a respectful 5+ YPC his last year in Denver on 60ish carries, along with all the catches.

I think we saw some of his running ability after catching the ball on Sunday, now I would like to see him get some carries between the tackles.

[razorbak]

He was the best blocking back in college fb his senior year. He has great hands, is deceptively quick and he can power through tacklers. He's also a good punt returner. Y'all got the steal of the draft.

In 2006, Arkansas was 10-1 in November til Hillis got hurt. With him out due to injury, we finished the season 0-3, losing 3 close games in a row.

[Tned]

Did we hit the gold mine on offense in this draft or what?

Let's see how Torain pans out, but it sure looks that way.

[Fan in Exile]

Let's see how Torain pans out, but it sure looks that way.

Even if Torain doesn't pan out having Clady, Royal, and Hillis is a Gold mine. Three starters from a draft is HUGE.

[Tned]

Even if Torain doesn't pan out having Clady, Royal, and Hillis is a Gold mine. Three starters from a draft is HUGE.

Well, so far Hillis has had one impact game, and had been displaced by an LB the previous two games. One of the games I understood, because of the death in his familiy and him missing a little practice, but I didn't understand the next game when Larsen had time at FB.

I've been happy with this draft from the beginning and think Torain and Hillis will pan out and be quality starters, I'm just saying it is still a little early with them.