Justice Hill was removed from Baltimore's injury report on November 4, 2026, clearing a groin issue that had him limited to start the week, and he played Week 9 against Jacksonville. He finished with nine carries for 85 yards and a touchdown on a 65-yard run, plus three catches for seven yards. Days later, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the Giants had inquired about Hill specifically — not Henry — a signal that another front office sees real value in what Baltimore has built around him.
None of that amounts to a depth-chart promotion. Derrick Henry remains the Ravens' lead runner. But the health clearance plus the explosive play plus outside trade interest is the kind of convergence that moves a buried name back onto waiver radars, and it's worth asking plainly what Hill's role actually is now and what it can produce going forward.
The Henry-Hill Split That Hasn't Changed
Through nine games this season, Hill has 33 carries for 240 yards and one rushing touchdown, with 20 catches for 111 yards on 28 targets. That is a passing-down profile, not a lead-back one — a 7.3-yard average on limited volume tells you he's efficient when the ball finds him, not that he's being fed. Last season he caught 21 passes for 169 yards and scored two rushing touchdowns on only 18 carries. The shape of his usage has been consistent for two years: light rushing volume, real receiving work, occasional explosive plays.
The condition that would change that shape is an injury to Henry or a coordinator decision to redistribute carries. Neither has happened. Henry, now in his age-32 season after a decade of heavy workload, is the kind of back whose decline can arrive suddenly rather than gradually — that risk exists in the background, but it is not realized, and there's no evidence he's slowing down right now. Hill's Week 9 line looked good on the stat sheet, but four of his nine touches came in the first half; the touchdown arrived in the second half of a 33–10 loss that was already decided. That context matters. It was a real, explosive play by a real NFL back, but it was not evidence of a bigger role.
Randall, McMillan, and the Crowded Room Behind Henry
Baltimore didn't just stand pat at running back this offseason — it added competition for Hill's job. The Ravens drafted Clemson's Adam Randall on Day 3, a pick specifically aimed at the backup and rotational role Hill currently occupies, though reporting indicated Randall wasn't expected to open the season ahead of him. Baltimore also signed undrafted free agents Dontae McMillan and Elijah Tau-Tolliver, both competing initially for reserve snaps and special-teams work rather than touches, but both representing roster pressure on Hill's spot. None of this is departure — it's addition, and it's the kind of addition that caps upside rather than unlocking it.
There's also the matter of Hill's own contract. He carried a $3.8 million cap figure entering the season, with reported savings of roughly $3.1 million available had Baltimore released him. That he's still on the roster, still playing, and still drawing targets is itself a modest vote of confidence — but it's also a reminder that his job security was never fully assured even before Randall arrived.
On the passing game side, Jacoby Brissett is Baltimore's quarterback this season, and Declan Doyle is identified as the offensive coordinator — a potential change from the prior play-caller, though the exact transition isn't pinned down in available reporting. Neither change has visibly altered Hill's role: he remains the back trusted in protection and on check-downs, the same job Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic described him as handling well.
“a good complement to Derrick Henry”
— Jeff Zrebiec, The Athletic
Zrebiec also noted Baltimore "really value[s] his ability out of the backfield and in blitz pickup." That's a real role and a real reason to roster him. It is not language that describes a lead back.
Why the Week 9 Line Isn't a Trend
The strongest case for treating Hill as more than a complementary piece rests on two data points: the 65-yard score and the Giants' reported interest. Both are legitimate. But the touchdown came against a defense that had already stopped trying, and the Giants calling about a player doesn't mean Baltimore is preparing to feature him — teams inquire about complementary backs all the time without any intention of trading the headline name. Week 8 offers a useful caution in the other direction: Hill saw eight targets that game, but that volume was a product of Baltimore trailing badly behind third-string quarterback Joe Fagnano, not a repeatable role. Strip out game-script spikes in both directions and what's left is a back who plays on third downs, protects the quarterback, and occasionally turns a screen or a draw into something explosive.
The honest counter-argument is that Hill is one Henry injury away from relevant touches, and that his groin issue — even though cleared — is worth watching given his usage profile depends on being available for passing downs specifically. Both points are fair. Neither changes what's true this week: Henry is healthy, the touch distribution hasn't shifted, and Randall now exists as competition for any touches that might open up.
The Roster Move This Implies
Hill is a add in PPR formats specifically for his receiving role, his pass-protection value, and his demonstrated ability to turn a small number of touches into a spike week. He is not a weekly RB2 projection, and nothing in his recent usage — not the clearance from the injury report, not the touchdown, not the trade buzz — changes the underlying math of a committee where Henry gets the bulk of the carries and Randall now sits behind both of them on the depth chart. The right move is to roster him in deeper PPR leagues as a bench piece with spike-week equity, start him only in true emergencies, and monitor Henry's workload for the signal that would actually change this calculus.