Bengals Making Jeremy Hill Lead Back Was Best Decision They Could Make Right Now

For most of the 2014 NFL season, the Cincinnati Bengals have employed a two-headed attack at running back, with second-year pro Giovani Bernard and rookie Jeremy Hill splitting playing time just about right down the middle.

Now, with the Bengals in the thick of a heated playoff race in the AFC North, they are flipping the script, giving the keys to the ground game to their youngster...er.

And in making Hill the team's lead back, the Bengals have made the right call.

It was Bernard himself who broke the news, telling ESPN.com's Coley Harvey that Hill would draw the start when the Bengals travel to face the Cleveland Browns on Sunday: "I've just got to go with that and see where it goes from there. He's playing hard and running hard. As a running back, that's what you have to do. At the end of the day, that's all I care about is winning and being on this team."

Bernard's team-first attitude is laudable (even if he doesn't really mean it), but this move still raised a few eyebrows.

The thing is, it really shouldn't have for a number of reasons.

To start with, offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, who has historically favored featuring one "workhorse" running back, indicated to Harvey recently that the Bengals' two-back approach hadn't produced the results he'd hoped:

"

That's what I'm kind of used to. I'm used to having one guy kind of dominate some carries because, in order for backs to be really good, they've got to get lathered up to play. You've got to get a feel for the game. We have two capable guys and they're different guys and we'll let it play itself out, but we have a pretty good idea which way we're headed.  

"

With Jackson inclined to go back to one back in black (sorry, locked up there for a second), the choice was a clear one.

Player	Att.	Yards	Avg.	TD	Rec.	Yards	Avg.	TD
Bernard	142	557	3.9	5	28	224	8.0	0
Hill	152	729	4.8	6	24	201	8.4	0

Yes, Bernard was dynamic as a rookie a year ago, topping 1,200 total yards and scoring eight touchdowns. However, Bernard's yards per carry are down in 2014, and while some of it can be blamed on injury, the fact remains that on a per-touch basis Hill has outperformed Bernard by a substantial margin.

Mind you, this isn't to say that Bernard isn't still going to be a big part of the Cincinnati offense, and in reducing the quantity of Bernard's touches the Bengals might be able to increase the quality of them.

Last year, Bernard played a complementary role to BenJarvus Green-Ellis in Cincinnati. "Law Firm" was the between-the-tackles grinder, while Bernard was the change-of-pace, third-down back. The Bengals got Bernard the rock in space, and the results were...

Well, that doesn't suck; that's for sure.

This year, despite the fact that Bernard (5'9", 208 lbs) and Hill (6'1", 238 lbs) are different types of running backs with differing skill sets, the two have played a virtually identical role. That, in turn, has led to far too many head-scratching play calls involving Bernard slamming into a wall of humanity at the line of scrimmage.

Then there's the matter of this little nugget from Bengals' writer Joe Goodberry:

It's hardly surprising, but that number indicates that Hill is very good at using that 238-pound frame to pummel opponents into submission. Allowing the former LSU star to "get lathered up" (as Jackson put it) will afford him additional opportunities to do just that.

Frankly, this is a move the Bengals probably should have already made. Despite two young, talented backs, the Bengals rank in the middle of the pack in yards per carry this season, averaging just over four yards a pop.

Some of that can be blamed on an offensive line that ranks 20th in the NFL in run blocking, per Football Outsiders, but the Bengals haven't done a very good job of maximizing the bang for their buck in the backfield.

In that regard, making Hill the lead back while putting Bernard back in the role he excelled in as a rookie is a big step in the right direction.

And with the Bengals clinging to a half-game lead in the AFC North as they enter the stretch run, the team can use as many of those as it can get.

Gary Davenport is an NFL Analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPManor.