Everything was perfect for the Cincinnati Bengals during their 31-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Thursday—everything, that is, except the fantasy football performances of their running backs.
While Giovani Bernard put up 72 rushing yards, Jeremy Hill was largely a non-factor with 52 rushing yards and zero receiving yards on his one catch. Instead, tight end Tyler Eifert dominated fantasy matchups across the country with three touchdown catches.
Here is a look at the final tallies and some reactions for the two ball-carriers:
The discouraging part of Hill’s day was the fact that Bernard had 13 carries. Since Bernard tallied only one carry in the team’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week and eight in the matchup against the Buffalo Bills on October 18, it seemed as though Hill was gradually becoming the Bengals’ bell-cow back again, but that wasn’t the case Thursday.
Bernard’s 5.5 yards per carry played a large role in that, compared to Hill’s 3.5.
Starting either of these backs is a risky proposition because the two are splitting time and touches. Yes, Hill owners can look toward last year, when he posted 1,124 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in his rookie season, but he has yet to top 63 rushing yards in a game this year—and that came back in Week 1.
The LSU product hasn’t scored on the ground in the past four games and has only five catches on the season. The fact that he couldn’t put up big numbers against a Cleveland rush defense that ranked dead last in the league in yards allowed per game before Thursday is a red flag moving forward, since the opposition will only improve.
Chris Wesseling of Around the NFL has not been impressed:
Hill came into the season as a presumed fantasy star and one of the best running backs in the league based on his breakout rookie campaign. It was only natural to expect progression in his second year, but that hasn’t happened. He is worth flex consideration at best in 2015, especially since he is splitting time in the backfield with another playmaker.
The same warnings about sharing carries also apply to Bernard, although he made the most of them Thursday.
Still, it came against the league’s worst rush defense, and it was the first time he reached double-digit carries since Oct. 11 against the Seattle Seahawks. He is not an automatic start at this point, although he offers more value than Hill.
Bernard is more involved in the passing attack (21 catches for 155 yards on the season) and was averaging an impressive 5.6 yards per carry coming into Thursday’s game (compared to Hill’s 3.3). When he gets the opportunities, Bernard takes advantage, as he did against the San Diego Chargers when he posted 123 yards on 20 carries.
Still, he has found the end zone only twice all year.
Neither Bengals running back is providing consistent fantasy value in 2015, but owners know Bernard is the safer bet to pick up yards and tally some catches. That makes him the better option.
Read more Fantasy Football news on NerdyFootball.com
Football
NFL
AFC North
Cincinnati Bengals
Fantasy
Giovani Bernard