Thread: Hillis-- Due Diligence Report

Originally Posted by Npba900

Hillis and Aldridge will make the team and be two of the steals in the draft. The 2008 draft maybe better than the 2006 draft

Clady, Powell, Royal, Torain, Hillis, and Alridge will have impacts this season.

I like the optimism! Why draft a guy if a team thinks they'll be a bust. Hillis has all the ingredients to be a great fullback/utility player, and I hope people give him the benefit of the doubt before shooting him down. I'm taking the wait-and-see approach for all of the new players.

Originally Posted by Nomad B

I like the optimism! Why draft a guy if a team thinks they'll be a bust. Hillis has all the ingredients to be a great fullback/utility player, and I hope people give him the benefit of the doubt before shooting him down. I'm taking the wait-and-see approach for all of the new players.

Like many of these guys, he is first going to have to prove himself on special teams, whether that is in training camp/pre-season or in the season too.

Originally Posted by Stargazer

Hopefully Griff on steroids.

We'll see if he makes the team.

I like his chances of making the team better than i do Mike Bell's chances.

Originally Posted by Tned

Like many of these guys, he is first going to have to prove himself on special teams, whether that is in training camp/pre-season or in the season too.

He should do fine and he's a hard worker.

One good thing out of all this is at least LSU won't have to face him the day after Thanksgiving anymore!

Originally Posted by TXBRONC

I like his chances of making the team better than i do Mike Bell's chances.

I think Andre Hall has a much better chance of making the team than Mike Bell, and I think Andre needs to have a great TC and Preseason to make the team.

At least Hall was productive when he was in the game (like the Titans game). And, Hall does well on ST and actually makes some pretty good tackles on kickoffs.

I would be totally comfortable with Andre Hall in the backfield, he has shown nothing to knock my confidence. The only thing we haven't seen is whether he can be a starting back for an entire game.

After his first season, Bell has totally caved in. I love the kid, I wanted him to succeed, but he's toast. The most we could do is feature him a little in the preseason and see if he's worth a seventh round pick to another team before the final roster cuts.

About Hillis, I think he is an all around playmaker. Honestly, this kid is a rocket out of the backfield. I totally underestimated this kid's speed and especially his pass catching ability. Our coaches need to bend a little of the playbook to his skills, instead of just trying to hammer him into the lame mold they have used for Sapp and KJ. Hillis should be as good of a blocker as either Sapp or KJ, and a much more potent offensive weapon (that's where his real value lies IMO).

Love the highlights:
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How do I embed video?
I'm used to just copying and pasting, but that doesn't seem to work on this board. Can anyone help me with embedding video?

Originally Posted by Brand

Don't remember seeing one like him in Denver, although Griffith came close. I think of the fullback that played for Sandy Eggo - Neal, I believe - as being the type I'd like to see in Denver. I am sure there are other examples as well, but it seems to me that the Broncos have gotten away from having the true fullback in their Offense over the past three or four years. Kyle Johnson tried and I was sorry to have seen him be dismissed from the team.

Maybe there will be a change in the Offensive philosophy. I wonder where that change might have been suggested. Heimerdinger was a believer in throwing the ball, but Shanahan is a running game coach, and that leads to moving towards bigger Olinemen. The troubles in the red zone - particularly with goal to go situations - showed a lack of running proficiency and the limits of the smaller Olinemen. So, I think we saw a couple of efforts to address that problem along with the STs and WRs.

I am getting excited for the Camps to start.....

None of us really know why the Broncos went away from using the FB in the offense on a regular basis. Some say it's because Shanny had a change in philosiphy and that him and most of the rest of the NFL has removed the roll of a pure FB. Others, like myself, think that it's because he hasn't had the right man for the job since Howard Griffith left.

The closest thing we've had to a true blocking FB since Griffith was Kyle Johnson. He had the right attitude, but was an average blocker at best. Even so, he saw his share of time on the field for a while. If Hillis turns out to be a good blocker, I think we'll see him on the field quite a bit. Not only in that traditional FB role, but being moved in motion to split out wide, and in one back sets on obvious passing downs. He showed in college that he can take on a blocking role, and still be a weapon. He has the unselfishness and attitude you look for in a FB, with the speed of a big tailback. He also has very good hands.

Those of us who remember this offense in it's heyday remember just how important Howard Griffith was to TD's success and our 2 Super Bowl winning seasons. If Hillis can block, Shanny will be able to open up another 20 or so pages in the old playbook.

Originally Posted by cmhargrove

How do I embed video?
I'm used to just copying and pasting, but that doesn't seem to work on this board. Can anyone help me with embedding video?

The only video you can embed is Youtube. Just use the video number in youtube brackets.

The kid is a jack of all trades, but a master of none. He's the perfect fit for the WCO and can contribute in a myriad of ways. He'll bring a dimension to this team that we haven't seen for a while at the position.

Originally Posted by frauschieze

The only video you can embed is Youtube. Just use the video number in youtube brackets.

Let's try that again...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI8jgpz_K_g

Originally Posted by Ziggy

None of us really know why the Broncos went away from using the FB in the offense on a regular basis. Some say it's because Shanny had a change in philosiphy and that him and most of the rest of the NFL has removed the roll of a pure FB. Others, like myself, think that it's because he hasn't had the right man for the job since Howard Griffith left.

The closest thing we've had to a true blocking FB since Griffith was Kyle Johnson. He had the right attitude, but was an average blocker at best. Even so, he saw his share of time on the field for a while. If Hillis turns out to be a good blocker, I think we'll see him on the field quite a bit. Not only in that traditional FB role, but being moved in motion to split out wide, and in one back sets on obvious passing downs. He showed in college that he can take on a blocking role, and still be a weapon. He has the unselfishness and attitude you look for in a FB, with the speed of a big tailback. He also has very good hands.

Those of us who remember this offense in it's heyday remember just how important Howard Griffith was to TD's success and our 2 Super Bowl winning seasons. If Hillis can block, Shanny will be able to open up another 20 or so pages in the old playbook.

I think the Broncos left the FB for the TE a few years back. We had little talent at FB, while the TE's were pretty decent. And, we used the TE as a hybrid fullback after Droughns became the starting tailback. I know we did that out of necessity, but I thought it had real potential in the gameplan. I would still be excited to see Scheffler or Graham line up in the backfield and see how they would do at FB. They could block with a head of steam, or catch dump passes in the flat. It could take some heat off Cutler.

Anyway, Hillis is now a FB that can pass catch like a TE, so we might have some interesting times ahead. I like his potential.

Originally Posted by Dream

The kid is a jack of all trades, but a master of none. He's the perfect fit for the WCO and can contribute in a myriad of ways. He'll bring a dimension to this team that we haven't seen for a while at the position.

DING! Give the man his prize!

Hillis may be a better RB prospect than Torain. I'm not discounting anything he could do.

Being a 3rd back behind DMC and Jones, in a system that is not tailored for your style of running, is not a crime.

If Jerome Bettis played at Arkansas, in that scheme, he would have been a fullback too.

The Broncos LOVE to have an accomplished blocker as lead RB so they can leave him on the field on passing downs, to give themselves more options. Hillis isn't the best blocker in the world, but he probably is the best blocker amongst the RBs on the team - and once we teach him how to block the way we want he should excel.

That - and his receiving skills and ability to break tackles once he's holding the ball - will get him on the field on 3rd and longs. If he can hold on to the football when in traffic then we'll see if he can get on the field on 3rd and short.

It's a very short journey from being the back entrusted with 3rd-and-short, and third-and-ten, to being the one toting the rock on a lot of 1st and 2nd downs...

I'm not sold on his ability to hold onto the ball (he can be careless with it from the plays I saw) but if he can clean that up he really does have a LOT more offensive upside than most guys labeled "FB" in college.

I'm looking forward to seeing him run over some poor CB and stiff-arm the LB to get the 1st down.

If Torain also happens to work out, even better - talk about a great running attack when you have thunder and more thunder as your 2 main options - but I really like the chances Hillis has to be a first year player that allows us to incorporate changes to our offensive attack simply by the plusses he brings to the table.

Doesn't happen with a lot of first year "weapons," especially those drafted late.

~G

Originally Posted by TXBRONC

I like his chances of making the team better than i do Mike Bell's chances.

Mike Bell even fumbles in Madden...he fumbled 3 times on 10 carries once.

Originally Posted by honz

Mike Bell even fumbles in Madden...he fumbled 3 times on 10 carries once.

Delete his ass.