Jeremy Hill posts goodbye to Bengals

To no surprise, Jeremy Hill will not be back with the Cincinnati Bengals.

On Wednesday, Hill announced on Twitter that he was “on to the next chapter” in his NFL career.

Hill, who just finished his fourth NFL season, was unable to finish the year after undergoing ankle surgery. He was battling an ankle injury that plagued him in seven games (seven starts), where he recorded 37 carries for 116 yards (3.1-yard average), as well as four catches for 16 yards.

Hill was outstanding in his first year in the NFL and took the league by a storm, rushing for 1,124 yards and nine scores at a 5.1 clip in only eight starts — second highest average after Justin Forsett.

And not only was he exciting to watch and uber productive, he also saved a Bengals offense that was in shambles after losing Marvin Jones Jr. and Tyler Eifert early on in the season due to injuries.

But since then, it’s been a massive regression for Hill, who has averaged 3.6, 3.8 and 3.1 yards per carry in the following three seasons. That’s just not cutting it in today’s NFL, and it’s a big reason why the Bengals got an upgrade in Joe Mixon via the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft.

Hill’s running mate, Giovani Bernard, was also far and away a superior back, so there’s no sense in keeping Hill as a third-string back that doesn’t play special teams.

That said, Hill was a special player in 2014 that made that a memorable season for a Bengals team that finished 10-5-1. That’s how I’ll always remember Hill, and that’s how every Bengals fan should.