Category: Taysom Hill

Former Saints quarterback on why Taysom Hill is one of a kind

Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Steve Walsh shared his take on what he feels Taysom Hill brings to the table, and why Hill is ultimately one of a kind:

Taysom Hill has been on an absolute tear as of late, reaching multiple milestones as he’s been a pivotal part of the New Orleans Saints snapping a seven-game losing streak and replacing it with a two-game winning streak.

He’s a jack-of-all-trades that has never fully been able to be replicated, despite several NFL teams’ desperate efforts to do so. At the same time, it’s often said that a player like Hill is not to be invested in as a pure quarterback for the long-term.

That experiment has also been tried and failed as a part of a trend that ultimately faded away. Former Saints quarterback Steve Walsh is among those who shares that line of thinking.

“A guy like Taysom Hill is not going to last. You’re not going to invest 40 million dollars in a guy and let him run QB power, because those 10 million-dollar linebackers know how to hit you, and they know how to hurt you,” Walsh told me an interview for RG.org. “So you’re just not going to survive.”

A player like Hill is also, from a dollars and cents perspective, not going to be smart to go all in on for NFL teams.

“The economics don’t make sense in that type of quarterback. Now, is that somebody you like as your backup or your number three guy that can give you a change of pace?” Walsh continued. “Cam Newton played best when he was running QB power because that’s just how he played. But, he wasn’t going to be able to do that for an extended period of time; like a 15-year career.”

Quarterback or not, there is no denying the wave of success Hill has recently experienced.

Hill tallied 138 rushing yards on seven carries and 50 receiving yards from eight catches injury the Saints’ 35-14 win over the Cleveland Browns.

That wasn’t all he did to earn him the title of FedEx Air and Ground player of the week, though, either.

He also threw a pass for 18 yards and got some special teams action with 42 yards on a kick return. Very few players can put together a three-way performance quite like that.

How he and the Saints continue to build upon the new era they seem to have begun will be something to keep an eye on in a season that could ultimately be much more interesting that it looked like it would be just weeks ago.

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Saints are getting the most out of Taysom Hill, and they shouldn’t slow down

Taysom Hill had his most touches of the year on Sunday, and he’s too impactful to return to the sideline. They should keep leaning on him:

To call Taysom Hill’s performance against the Cleveland Browns incredible feels like an understatement. The New Orleans Saints tight end reverted back to the days of when he was a positionless player.

Hill totaled over 200 yards, so saying this next statement may seem a bit obvious. However, the Saints have to use Hill like that every week. Let’s go deeper than production because that level won’t happen weekly. Let’s focus on touches.

Taysom Hill should be used as a secondary rushing option to Alvin Kamara and one of the most prominent receiving threats, due to Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed’s injuries

This was only the second time this season Hill has touched the football 10 or more times. That number includes rushes, receptions and pass attempts. If you take away passes, Sunday was the first time Hill hit double digit touches.

Hill’s usage as a passer has increased recently. Over the last four weeks, Hill has attempted a pass in three of the four games. It’s a good way to keep defenses on their heels a little bit when Hill is taking the snap.

Passing can vary on a game to game basis, but his targets and rushes should remain at this pace. Hill caught 8 of 10 targets and ran the ball seven times.

Seven rushes feels like a reasonable mark to stretch for each week. The Saints don’t have many receiving threats, so three catches is doable. That’s a recipe for a minimum of 10 touches in a game. Hill is way to impactful for that to not happen on a regular basis.

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Taysom Hill just won his second FedEx Air & Ground Player of the Week award

Just one tight end has won the FedEx Air & Ground Player of the Week award in its 22-year history, and Taysom Hill has now done that twice:

The FedEx Air & Ground Player of the Week awards have been a mainstay of NFL honors for 22 years, but just one tight end has earned it. And now he’s done it twice. New Orleans Saints star Taysom Hill won the award for the second time after his huge day against the Cleveland Browns, powering the Saints to a dominant win at home with three touchdown runs.

Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix was also recognized with this week’s award after completing 28 of 33 passes for 307 yards and 4 touchdowns in the Broncos’ big win over the Atlanta Falcons.

FedEx has pledged that they “will make a $2,000 donation in Hill’s name to a Historically Black College or University of his choice, which will be applied towards needs-based scholarships to deserving HBCU students.”

Hill set some new personal-bests along the way, too. Hill totaled 138 rushing yards from seven carries and 50 receiving yards off of eight catches. He also completed an 18-yard pass and picked up 42 yards on a kick return, impacting the game on both offense and special teams. It’s not the type of performance you see too often in today’s game.

And it goes to show how special Hill is, and how important his presence is to the Saints’ success. They may not win every game when he sees such a heavy workload, but Hill playing well does tend to correlate with victories. When he’s running with a head full of steam there aren’t many NFL defenses who can slow him down.

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Taysom Hill recognized with his second career Offensive Player of the Week award

Take a bow, Taysom Hill. The Saints’ standout football player was recognized with his second career Offensive Player of the Week award:

Take a bow, Taysom Hill. The New Orleans Saints football player was recognized with his second career NFC Offensive Player of the Week award after making plays as a runner, receiver, and passer against the Cleveland Browns — not counting his impressive kick return for 42 yards.

Take that with his 138 rushing yards, 50 receiving yards, and an 18-yard pass, and Hill amassed 188 yards from scrimmage with 230 all-purpose yards. Each of those totals were personal bests for him, and he had three touchdown runs on the afternoon, too.

This is the third weekly honor for Hill after he was previously named NFC Offensive Player of the Week in 2022 and NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in 2018. Call him a quarterback, fullback, tight end or wide receiver — wherever Hill lines up, he makes plays. That’s what interim head coach Darren Rizzi expressed to FOX Sports sideline reporter Jennifer Hale during Sunday’s win over the Browns.

“Taysom’s an unbelievable football player, usually the more we can use him the better off we are,” Rizzi said on the broadcast, acknowledging Hill’s highlights despite an interception and fumble on the day. “We just gotta do a better job limiting the negative plays, can’t turn the football over. But we’re going to use Taysom as much as we can.”

Hill is averaging a career-high 38.3 rushing yards per game this season on top of 21.4 receiving yards per game, which is also the most for his time in the NFL. Over the summer Klint Kubiak and the Saints coaching staff expressed an eagerness to get more out of Hill than in past seasons, and you’re seeing that pay off. Hill just needs to stay healthy, protect the football, and keep earning recognition for his efforts.

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Taysom Hill nominated for FedEx Air & Ground Player of the Week again

Taysom Hill has been nominated for FedEx Air & Ground Player of the Week after his huge game against the Browns. He last won this award in 2022:

Shout out to Taysom Hill — the New Orleans Saints star has been nominated again for FedEx Air & Ground Player of the Week after his standout performance against the Cleveland Browns last Sunday. Hill scored three touchdowns runs while rushing for 138 yards and gaining 50 yards as a receiver, with an additional 18 passing yards to his credit (an interception and fumble notwithstanding).

He’s facing stiff competition this week from peak performers like Detroit Lions leaders Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown as well as Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, Denver Broncos rookie Bo Nix, and Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley.

Saints fans can vote for Hill at NFL.com/FedEx until voting closes at 2 p.m. CT/3 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

The last time Hill won this award, he was coming off an impressive outing against the Seattle Seahawks in 2022. That day Hill ran for 112 yards and three touchdowns as well, but he also threw a 22-yard touchdown pass, though he didn’t make any plays as a receiver. This time he impacted all three phases on offense. Maybe that helps him repeat.

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Jameis Winston was one of the first to congratulate Taysom Hill on his big day

Jameis Winston was one of the first to congratulate Taysom Hill on his big day, hurrying to embrace his old teammate after Saints-Browns:

Taysom Hill had a game for the ages when the New Orleans Saints hosted the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. Hill was a major key to the Saints’ success in their 35-14 win, accounting for three touchdown runs — plus 138 rushing yards and another 50 receiving yards, and 18 passing yards on a trick play.

His old teammate Jameis Winston had a good day, too. Winston threw for 395 yards and two touchdowns against his former team while doing all he could to keep the Browns in it, and he didn’t turn the ball over. After the game Saints players, coaches, and other personnel queued up to see Winston, but he stepped up when Hill approached him.

“You were amazing, man,” Winston laughed, arms wrapping around Hill in a bear hug.

Once upon a time Winston and Hill competed for the opportunity to succeed Drew Brees as the Saints’ starting quarterback, splitting practice reps and preseason game action to push one another to be their best. Winston won that battle, but there’s still plenty of love between the two of them. Hill had a lot of Saints fans cheering him on Sunday. On some level, another one was watching him from the opposing sideline, too.

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WATCH: Taysom Hill ices the game with third-longest rush in Saints’ history

WATCH: Taysom Hill ices the game with one of the longest rushes in Saints history

The New Orleans Saints managed to pull away late against the Cleveland Browns, and things wrapped up with a 75-yard touchdown rush by Taysom Hill.

This run tied for the third longest in Saints’ history with Mark Ingram’s 75-yarder and behind George Rogers (79 yards) and Deuce McAllister (76 yards). The rush came with Hill in the wildcat spot, where he took the direct snap and ran around the left side, where pretty much noone was there to meet him and he ran all the way down the field for a touchdown.

And this sealed a victory for the Saints as they went up 35-14, and managed to get to a 4-7 record entering their Week 12 bye.

Taysom Hill’s stat line vs. Browns is the first of its kind since 1951

Taysom Hill’s stat line against the Browns is the first of its kind since 1951. You just don’t see many players with his skill set in this day and age:

How’s this for an old-school stat line? Taysom Hill leapt out early against the Cleveland Browns with a pass completion, rushing touchdown, and a kickoff return in Week 11’s New Orleans Saints game — before he threw an ill-advised interception down the middle of the field. You don’t see many players involved that often on both offense and special teams.

As noted by statistician and Saints fan Jeff Asher, Hill is the first player to check each of those boxes since Joe Geri did it back in 1951. A two-time Pro Bowler with the Pittsburgh Steelers who closed out his pro football career with the then-Chicago Cardinals in 1952, Geri played in a different era that Hill’s set of skills throws back to. He’s one of five different players who met these qualifiers from 1946 to 1951.

It feels like only a matter of time until the Saints get Hill involved defensively; former head coach Dennis Allen had said he’d consider playing Hill at linebacker, but it’s probably a long-shot to see Hill get in on all three phases regardless of who’s running the defense. He’s got a full plate as it is.

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Taysom Hill climbs higher among Saints’ all-time leading scorers

Taysom Hill added to his legacy in Sunday’s contest against the Browns, breaking his tie with Pierre Thomas in the Saints’ all-time record books:

Taysom Hill is rungs higher on the list of all-time leading scorers with his 10-yard rushing touchdown against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

Hill has now broken his tie with Pierre Thomas for touchdowns scored in Saints history. He now sits at ninth overall with 42 touchdowns combined between his efforts as a runner, receiver and returner, a perfect illustration of just how much of a Swiss army knife he truly is. Eric Martin is next ahead of him with 48 touchdowns scored.

Several teams have tried to replicate Hill over the years and have failed to this point, and it’s easy to get the sense there may never be another quite like him. The Saints get to reap the fortune of that at the rest of the league’s expense.

Sunday’s touchdown run marked the 13th rushing touchdown in his career.

Hill came into the game with 10 receptions on 14 targets for 100 yards, also totaling 130 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries.

How he continues to add to his legacy both in this game and down the rest of the schedule will be something to watch.

The Saints lead the Browns, 7-6 at the top of the second quarter.

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Taysom Hill dominates the Saints’ opening drive vs. Browns

The Saints opened up Week 11 with the full Taysom Hill experience, including a physical touchdown run on their first drive:

The New Orleans Saints first drive of the game was the true Taysom Hill experience and it was capped off by a rushing touchdown by Hill.

The tight end has always been a Swiss Army Knife. It wasn’t until recently that he got a true position instead of just being a football player. He runs, catches and throws the football. He did all three on the opening drive.

To make things more impressive, it was on three consecutive drives. Klint Kubiak dialed up a reverse pass with Hill throwing to Kevin Austin. The next play, Derek Carr threw the ball to Hill. That was the second target of the game for Hill but his first catch.

To cap off the drive, Hill took a direct snap in for a touchdown. It was a six play drive. Hill had three touches and an additional target.

This touchdown breaks Hill’s tie with Saints legend Pierre Thomas for ninth most total touchdowns in Saints history. Hill is now six touchdowns away from Eric Martin at eighth place.

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