Week 9 Rookie Report: More WRs bust loose, and an underrated LB gets his due

After an impressive Week 8 showing by first-year wide receivers, two more made a big impact for their teams during Week 9. One was a first-round pick who had been waiting for a breakout game up until this point, while the other wasn’t drafted at all and had to fight his way onto an NFL roster during training camp and preseason. There were a few other impact rookies around the league as well, including a second-round running back and third-round linebacker taking advantage of injuries to turn in productive games. Chris Tripodi will tell you who showed out to him in this week’s Rookie Report.

Jeremy Hill (RB-Cin)

With a banged-up Giovani Bernard sitting out the Bengals’ Week 9 game against the Jaguars, the second running back drafted this past May was thrust into a starting role. Coming into the game with just one outing of 40 yards or more this season, Cincinnati’s second-round pick exploded for 154 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries to help the Bengals win in the absence of their 2013 second-round pick. With Bernard looking doubtful to play on Thursday Night Football this week as well, Hill should get another shot to show off his skills.

The skills that Hill put on tape against Jacksonville were highly impressive, especially his change of direction ability as a 238-pound running back. The LSU product showed the ability to quickly alter his path against backfield penetration and cut against the grain, even completely reversing field on one run to pick up 11 yards. A toss play to the right side was going nowhere and Hill stopped moving, recognized the defense’s overpursuit on the backside and ran back parallel to the line of scrimmage and around the corner for the first down. Hill accelerated better than a back his size would be expected to, which allows him to trust his quick feet.

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