In his final year with the Rams, Hoerner helped lead the 1951 Rams to the NFL championship as part of the Rams' famed "Bull Elephant" backfield along with Paul "Tank" Younger and "Deacon" Dan Towler. Hoerner rushed for 569 yards in 1951, ranking 7th in the NFL. He also averaged 6.1 yards per carry, the 4th best average in the league, and scored a touchdown in the 1951 NFL Championship Game against the Cleveland Browns. Tank Younger, who in 1949 became the first NFL player from a historically black college, recalled that Hoerner pitched in unselfishly to help Younger learn Clark Shaughnessy's offensive system, even though they were both competing for the same position. Interviewed in 1970, Younger noted, "I used to go up to Dick's room every afternoon to study the offensive formation and the terminology. Dick helped me a great deal."