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Film Room: How Jeremy Hill is separating himself from Gio Bernard

Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

The running back that Marvin Lewis had in mind was Rudi Johnson.

Johnson had been 5-foot-10 and 225 pounds of muscle. He toted the pigskin hundreds of times in the 2000s, which Lewis liked. He carried the Cincinnati Bengals in his right arm and powered through for tough yards.

That's who Lewis thought of in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft when he drafted Giovani Bernard.

Giovani Bernard

Bernard was 5-foot-9 and 208 pounds. In terms of stature, he was similar to Johnson because he had a low base. He ran close to the ground with a natural leverage advantage. Bernard was quicker than Johnson, but he wasn't the kind of popper that Johnson was. He didn't have a natural tendency to drop his shoulder upon contact.

On first-and-10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 14, Bernard hopped left, then ran right as he took the handoff. It was a counter play. From the back-side the left guard pulled. Bernard crossed the right hash with the ball in hand and followed. After three diagonal steps he shuffled his feet.

Suddenly he hesitated, undecided on which gap to hit. The left guard mashed one inside linebacker and the center nearly mashed a second inside linebacker at the second level. It looked promising. But when the center whiffed on the block, Bernard was suddenly one-on-one with the linebacker. This wasn't his strength, he's not physical enough to break through arm tackles, not wired to boom his shoulder through the linebacker.

He cut off of his right foot and to the inside of the left guard. His shoulders were square and directly faced the roaming inside linebacker. Then his feet stalled, his shoulders raised and his chest puffed. The linebacker leaned forward and opened his arms. Bernard's base widened at the last second, but it didn't matter. The linebacker drove his right shoulder through him and that was it. A two-yard gain.

Bernard has struggled to run in between the tackles. He isn't physical enough to stick his foot in the ground and drive through defenders. As a result, he's struggled with shoulder, hip and rib injuries. He missed three games in 2014, which has raised questions about his durability and ability to handle a heavy workload. He's better served as a change-of-pace back, a role that he can stay fresh and outrun linebackers to the flat or quickly weave through the trenches.

In Week 15 against the Cleveland Browns, Bernard took a handoff on a stretch play and ran left.

After a handful of steps he shimmied his shoulders, lowered them and then cut off of his left foot. He looked like the player the Bengals fell for at North Carolina, the player that at times resembled like Ray Rice or Darren Sproles.

He jump cut past the blocks of the left guard and left tackle and cut again off his left foot, a quick incision past the receiver's block at the second level. At the third level, he was one-on-one with a safety when he squared his shoulders. Then he tried to cut inside off of his right foot and the safety wrapped him up, causing him to fall over after a 13-yard pickup.

Jeremy Hill

The running back that Lewis still had in mind was Rudi Johnson.

He bulldozed for a dozen touchdowns in three straight years. His powerful style was what Lewis wanted and the Bengals needed. The only physical presence they had at running back was plodder BenJarvus Green-Ellis.

Two rounds into the 2014 NFL Draft, Lewis selected Louisiana State University's Jeremy Hill.

Hill was bigger than both Johnson and last year's second-round pick, Bernard. He was 6-foot-1 and 238 pounds, the size of a weak-side linebacker. But he also had quick feet. Hill diced by defensive linemen and sliced through defensive backs.

In Week 11 against the New Orleans Saints, the play clock ticked down inside the final minute of the first half when Hill ran straight downhill. The play call was a lead run. As he pressed to the H-back's heels, two linebackers filled the B-gap between the right guard and the right tackle. Hill kicked his legs out to cut back left.

A center threw a block right and this time Hill kicked his legs back. He leaned forward and burst straight ahead in the A-gap between the center and the left guard. He was free into the second level, then the third, where he skipped by a diving tackler. He ran past the right hash, past the left hash, past the numbers. Then he hustled back toward the middle of the field and was tackled after a 62-yard gain.

For Hill's size, quick feet are uncommon. His speed has troubled defenses this year - including the Saints' - who allowed 152 yards to him. It was his second game in three weeks of more than 150 yards rushing. Both came on more than 20 carries. Because of his size and in-between-the-tackles style, he can handle a heavy workload.

That is what separates him from Bernard.

Four weeks later against the Cleveland Browns, Hill was the workhorse again, as Lewis and offensive coordinator Hue Jackson wanted. It let Hill find a rhythm, a drum that he could beat to.

On one play, the Bengals ran a zone stretch right. Hill took three steps and turned his shoulders downhill. He kept his eyes in between the tackles, following the H-back leading the way. Out in front the center was peeling off a nose tackle to an inside linebacker and needed help. Hill kicked his left foot inside, which held the linebacker for a split-second and allowed the center to reach across him and seal him inside.

Then Hill accelerated past the center's block and hit the third level. A Browns' safety was waiting for him, ready to wrap him up. Hill leaned away to his right and shoved him away with a stiff left arm for the 16-yard score.

It was one of Hill's two touchdowns. It also was his third game of at least 148 rushing yards in a season, tying a Bengals record shared with only Rudi Johnson.

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