Nyheim Hines Could be This Years Breakout Star
In his Indianapolis Colts debut yesterday, quarterback Phillip Rivers was unable to lead Indy to a victory over the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars, who bested the Colts by a score of 27-20. With that in mind, I think it is suffice to say the season didn’t start off like the Colts wanted. But there were definitely some positives: specifically the performance of running back Nyheim Hines.
Against Jacksonville yesterday, Hines was able to carry the ball 7 times for 28 yards and a touchdown. He also added 8 receptions for 45 yards and another touchdown through the air.
From the start of the game Hines had a role in the offense. Kind of surprising considering the Colts drafted Jonathan Taylor in the second round of this years draft, and their starter -Marlon Mack- was still healthy.
Unfortunately, Mack’s health didn’t last long as he tore his achilles during the game. That opens up the door for both Hines and Taylor to become bigger parts of the offense.
Colts RB Marlon Mack out for season with torn Achilles. (via @TomPelissero) pic.twitter.com/LGkpL3ViZB
— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2020
Yes, Taylor is a monster that should get the bulk of the carries, but with Rivers under center Hines could be the true breakout star to come out of this backfield.
Rivers has notoriously hyper targeted running backs over his career. Last year with the Los Angeles Chargers, Rivers threw to running backs a whopping 31.6% of the time. So with that being the case, both Hines and Taylor have an opportunity to touch the ball a lot: both on the ground, and through the air.
Something that may be helpful to reference: positional target shares by team from 2019. (This is based on position eligibility — a RB lined up at WR is counted as a RB target.) pic.twitter.com/UTiINLSssS
— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) June 3, 2020
Now Taylor is no slouch, but Hines is definitely the better receiver. That’s been his role ever since college and has continued into the pros after being selected in the 4th round by Indy back in 2018.
Belichick had a lot of praise for rookie Nyheim Hines. Had one of the best college tapes of any RB in last year’s class and is already killing it with the #Colts. Hines was a slot WR at times in college, already proving he can do that in the NFL. Out and up and a heck of a catch. pic.twitter.com/LbZFtyJOlR
— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) October 3, 2018
So with Rivers showing yesterday that he will continue his ways of dumping it to the running back, Hines is set to have a monster year: similar to the aforementioned Ekeler last year.
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Featured image courtesy of Twitter / @LockedOnColts