Former Falcons Running Back Signing with Titans: Report

Brian Hill

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images Brian Hill of the Atlanta Falcons rushes the ball against Jeff Heath of the Las Vegas Raiders on November 29, 2020.

On Wednesday the Tennessee Titans signed former Atlanta Falcons running back Brian Hill, this according to the agency that represents him, The Sports Entertainment Group.

Hill, 25, will compete for the backup running back job with the Titans, who are led by starter Derrick Henry, who won NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2020 after producing more than two-thousand yards rushing (2,027), plus 17 rushing touchdowns.

Hill’s primary competition for the No. 2 running back job figures to be 2020 third-round pick Darrynton Evans and veteran Jeremy McNichols.

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Brian Hill is a Former Fifth-Round Pick of the Falcons

Hill, who is 6-foot-1 and 219 pounds, entered the NFL in 2017 when Atlanta selected him in the fifth round (No. 156 overall) out of Wyoming.

He played in one game for the Falcons that season before he was waived and re-signed to Atlanta’s practice squad. Not long afterwards he was picked up by the Bengals, who utilized him in six games that year.

Then, when the Bengals cut him in the summer of 2018, the Falcons brought him back via the practice squad. He went on to appear in ten games that year, plus another 12 contests in 2019.

In 2020, he signed a $2.13 million contract as a restricted free agent and went on to have a career year, rushing the ball 100 times for 465 yards and a touchdown, while adding 25 receptions for another 199 yards.

All told, Hill has appeared in 45 NFL games with three starts, having rushed for a total of 982 yards and three touchdowns, plus 38 receptions for 313 yards. According to overthecap.com, Hill has earned $4,090,082 over the course of his career.


Atlanta’s Running Back Room in 2021

For better or worse, the Falcons are going to have a brand-new rushing attack in 2021 as the team did not attempt to retain last year’s leading rusher, Todd Gurley, and third-leading rusher Ito Smith was released in mid-April.

This year the rushing attack will be led by former Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers running back Mike Davis, who signed a two-year, $5.5 million contract with the Falcons in March. The Falcons also list 4x-All Pro kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson as a running back, and he figures to get carries as well.

Meanwhile, Qadree Ollison (one carry for three yards in 2020) is a holdover from last season, as is fullback Keith Smith, with first-year man Tony Brooks-James (three carries for four yards) also on the offseason roster.

The Falcons did not select a running back in last weekend’s draft, but did sign a pair of rookie undrafted free agents, namely Javian Hawkins (Louisville) and Caleb Huntley (Ball State), the former of whom averaged 6.2 yards per carry during his last year in college. He also broke the school’s single-season record for rushing yards in 2019 with 1,525 yards. He went undrafted despite being considered a likely late-round draft pick.

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