The Jeremy Hill offseason hype is rolling hard and fast.
Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson hopes the second-year running back jumps on the train and embraces the hype.
"We can't run from it because they're going to say it," Jackson told ESPN.com's Coley Harvey. "Now you've got to go live up to it. There should be no pressure in that. All it is to go out and work. To me, if a guy wants to be great, he's got to relish that. He's got to want that and then go exceed it.
"That would be my challenge to (Hill). I expect him to exceed whatever the expectation is about him."
Hill's play down the stretch was phenomenal. He led the NFL in rushing yards and yards per carry in the second half of the 2014 season.
Around The NFL's Chris Wesseling is one of many who singled out Hill for a big 2015 campaign, going so far as to say the young back, "has a chance to rival Corey Dillon and James Brooks as the best backs in franchise history if he can avoid serious injury."
The backfield of Hill and Giovani Bernard gives the Bengals a dangerous one-two punch.
"The sky's the limit for him and Gio," Jackson said. "But they've got to go out and do it. They've got to do it on a consistent basis, week in and week out. It can't be about the plays that are called, the defenses that they're facing. You've got to make plays."
While Jackson wants his young backs to embrace the hype, Hill is trying not to get caught up in the noise.
"People bring it up to me every now and then but I try not to get distracted with it," Hill said, "because I know it can be taken away at any moment. I know, if you throw a couple of bad performances in there, it'll all get thrown out the window. So you really can't get caught up in all that. You've just got to come in here every day and do your job -- and it's a cliché, maybe -- but you've really got to do it. It's a cliché for a reason."
Whether or not he wants to embrace the hype, nothing short of an injury will derail the glowing offseason reviews.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast breaks down the latest news surrounding Jason Pierre-Paul's injury, as well as the Mettenberger and Watt feud. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.
