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Mike Westhoff saw a lot during his long and storied NFL career, rising to prominence as a fiery assistant with the New York Jets before taking up Sean Payton’s offer to work as a consultant and de facto coordinator for the New Orleans Saints. He saw a lot of things and worked with many different athletes during his 32-year coaching career, but Taysom Hill offered something he hadn’t seen before: a quarterback with the athleticism and mindset to make a name for himself on special teams.
But even Westhoff didn’t anticipate Hill’s increased role in the Saints offense, but he liked what he saw in 2019. During an interview with The Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio, Westhoff shared his opinion that, yes, Hill has what it takes to succeed Drew Brees as the next starting quarterback for the Saints.
When asked whether he thinks Hill can continue to make strides and run a fully-formed NFL offense, Westhoff was enthusiastic in his support for that move: “I think he absolutely can be. I think he can be. Take a look at Baltimore. He’s the same kind of guy. Taysom Hill does those same things. I think he throws better (than Lamar Jackson). That’s the kind of football player he is. He was a very good quarterback at Brigham Young.”
The Saints made sweeping changes to their special teams coaching staff in 2019, parting ways with former coordinator Bradford Banta and his assistants. Westhoff wasn’t interested in working with the new coaches Payton brought in, instead contentedly resuming his retirement. But he knows enough about Payton to think the Saints are in good hands, and capable of retooling their offense similarly to how Ravens coach John Harbaugh operated after transitioning to Jackson after 11 years with Joe Flacco.
Westhoff continued: “I think he’ll be a heck of a quarterback, and I think you’ll see an offense that’s similar to Baltimore that can do a lot of different things. Sean Payton is an extremely qualified coach, and he’s very, very creative. Sean Payton is a good coach.”
The NFL is very much a copycat league, and it’s easy to envision a world where Payton expands Hill’s option-based package of plays to run with him as the full-time quarterback, taking inspiration from the diverse Ravens rushing attack. But it’s equally valid to wonder if Hill, who will turn 30 this year, can continue developing as a passer while the athleticism that’s won him so much acclaim inevitably begins to deteriorate. And the series of season-ending injuries he suffered at BYU can’t be overlooked, even if he’s responded well to a more-physical role than he dealt with in college.
So at the end of the day, this is just one former coach’s speculation. Westhoff made it very clear that he wasn’t relaying anything he’d heard from the Saints internally. He’s simply an experienced coach who has been pleasantly surprised by Hill’s abilities before, and wouldn’t rule out more surprises from the do-it-all quarterback in the future.
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