The New England Patriots lost several of their most important pieces on offense from last season. However, they managed to bounce back nicely just as they always have through free agency and the 2018 NFL Draft.

Among their notable additions was former Cincinnati Bengals running back Jeremy Hill. According to Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, Hill was so enamored with the prospect of signing with New England that he did so immediately without taking any other meetings:

Hill said that he “jumped on a plane as quick as I could” when the Patriots showed interest in having him visit and that meeting the team’s coaches convinced him to sign without taking any other meetings.

While it is encouraging to see Hill so excited to join the Patriots, he may have a difficult time cracking their current running back rotation. However, he acknowledged that he is ready to compete for an integral role in the offense.

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“Yeah, for sure. It’s great. It’s high,” Hill said of the competition in comments distributed by the team. “Obviously, those guys have played in Super Bowls and played at high levels and played big in playoff games, so the competition is definitely there, but I have all the faith in myself to go out there and compete at a high level, as well. It’ll only bring the best out of all of us. I think that’s how we want to approach every day, just playing at a high level, all of us and only good things can come from that.”

Hill joins a backfield that already consists of past contributors like Rex Burkhead, James White and Mike Gillislee. To make matters worse, they selected former Georgia running back Sony Michel with the 31st pick in the draft. This indicates that he could be poised for quite an opportunity in the Patriots' backfield.

However, there is still plenty of reason for Hill to be optimistic about his chances. He is the only running back in the group that has proven himself capable of handling a workhorse role. He is also the only one to have registered at least one 1,000-yard season in his career.

Although he is three seasons removed from his stellar campaign, the opportunity in New England could be just what he needs to get his career back on track.