Category: Taysom Hill

Taysom Hill closing in on Aaron Brooks’ single-season fumbles record

New Orleans Saints QB Taysom Hill is closing in on Aaron Brooks’ single-season fumbles record, a mark he probably isn’t excited about.

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There have been some highlights from Taysom Hill’s four-game starting stint with the New Orleans Saints. But nearly every one of those bright moments has been punctuated with a momentum-killing fumble.

And the pace he’s on has to be concerning. Hill has fumbled 10 times in 13 games, and, again: he’s only seen four starts as the full-time quarterback. He hasn’t played often enough to warrant that sort of giveaway rate.

For perspective: Hill is in danger of breaking the team record Aaron Brooks set back in 2003, when he coughed up 14 fumbles in 16 games as the starting quarterback. Brooks fumbled 11 or more times each year from 2001 to 2004.

That isn’t exactly the sort of company Hill would like to join, and he doesn’t have Brooks’ success as a passer to outweigh the fumbles. Both of them pail in comparison to Drew Brees, who has only fumbled 10 times in a single season once, in 2009.

It’s clearly something Hill must clean up. Saints coach Sean Payton can talk him up as his next quarterback for life after Brees, but this is one flaw they can’t afford to live with.

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Taysom Hill reflects on what he’s learned from ‘incredible mentor’ Drew Brees

New Orleans Saints quarterback Taysom Hill joined the Rich Eisen Show and discussed how Drew Brees prepared him to take over the job.

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What a month it’s been for Taysom Hill, the backup quarterback who’s found himself to be the new face of the New Orleans Saints. But it’s just a temporary arrangement, for now, with Hill filling in for the injured starter Drew Brees. Hill discussed what he’s picked up from a couple of years as Brees’ understudy in the Saints locker room during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show.

When asked to explain what he’s learned in the role, Hill could only smile: “Oh man, that is such a loaded question that I could go on forever. I have learned so much from Drew. One, he is such an incredible mentor and he’s become such a great friend to me.”

The Brees and Hill families have become close in their time together in New Orleans, so much so that they celebrate Thanksgiving together. That familiarity has turned into a productive working relationship, which Hill is very thankful for.

“But I would say the things that I’ve learned most are not the things he’s said to me but what I’ve been able to observe,” Hill continued. “I was so blown away when I first got here to see how he prepares week in and week out. Because I had this expectation that Drew’s been playing so long and he’s been so great and so consistent, that there’s not a defense he hasn’t seen, but I’m telling you he prepares as if it’s his first start every week.

“And so his routine, his schedule, I can tell you that if I was gone for a week, I could tell you exactly what he’s doing and when he would doing it because his routine is so dialed in and he knows what it takes to get prepared for a game.”

Hill hit on a couple of other topics in his interview — areas he wants to improve as a quarterback, how Sean Payton first added him to the team, and whether he prefers to throw a touchdown pass or run it in himself. It’s a great listen, so be sure to check it out.

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WATCH: Taysom Hill completes his first career touchdown pass

New Orleans Saints quarterback Taysom Hill connected with wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith for the very first touchdown pass of his NFL career.

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Cross it off your bingo board: New Orleans Saints quarterback Taysom Hill has thrown his first career touchdown pass, connecting with wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith on a crossing route deep in Atlanta Falcons territory. It was a matchup the Saints had been trying to get going early in Week 13’s matchup, though Smith alligator armed the first try and couldn’t secure the second.

As it turned out, the third shot rang true. The Saints flipped the play and got Smith running across the field, having shed Falcons safety Ricardo Allen in traffic to run wide open into the end zone, where Hill rifled the ball in for six points. Wil Lutz’s extra-point try was good, and New Orleans took an early lead.

But it was set up by another big play from Hill: a 43-yard scramble down the sideline, sprinting a tightrope to stay in bounds. That run wasn’t just the longest play from scrimmage of the year for Hill, but a career-best rushing attempt, too. See it for yourself:

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WATCH: Taysom Hill gets the Saints on the board with 2 TD runs vs. Broncos

New Orleans Saints quarterback Taysom Hill rumbled in for the first touchdown scored in his Week 12 game with the Denver Broncos.

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The New Orleans Saints put an emphasis on the run game in the first half of their matchup with the Denver Broncos, which is just how Taysom Hill likes it. He quarterbacked the Saints offense to a 13-play, 74-yard scoring drive to put the Saints up 7-0, trimming eight minutes off the game clock and capping it with a 1-yard touchdown run.

Hill rumbled in at the goal line to give his team an early lead, and pulled the trick off again just before halftime. A botched wildcat snap by the Broncos offense was recovered by Saints linebacker Kwon Alexander and fielded deep into Denver territory to set up the second New Orleans touchdown run of the day. See the back-to-back highlights for yourself:

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WATCH: Taysom Hill’s best plays from his first career start vs. Falcons

Taysom Hill did not disappoint in his first career start for the New Orleans Saints, taking care of business against the Atlanta Falcons.

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Taysom Hill was as effective as fans could hope for in his first start for the New Orleans Saints, leading the team to a victory over the NFC South-rival Atlanta Falcons. Hill showed the growth as a passer that everyone has been hoping for, completing 18 of 23 passes for 233 yards, though his first career touchdown pass eluded him.

However, Hill made up for it with two scoring runs and a team-leading 51 rushing yards on 10 carries. He bullied his smaller Falcons opponents on defense with a combination of size and speed that they struggled to match, especially in the open field, though you’d like to see him secure the ball a little more cleanly. A late fumble at the end of a run deep into Atlanta territory put Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan in position to pad his stats in garbage time, though the Saints defense spoiled that effort with a Janoris Jenkins interception.

There’s plenty for Hill to build on moving forwards, and he’ll get some great opportunities to continue developing his craft next week against the Denver Broncos and again in the following week’s rematch with this same sorry Falcons team.

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Sean Payton officially announces Taysom Hill as his starting QB for Week 11

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton formally announced Taysom Hill as his starting quarterback for Week 11’s game with the Atlanta Falcons.

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There’s your confirmation: New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton told ESPN’s Dianna Russini before Sunday’s kickoff with the Atlanta Falcons that Taysom Hill will see his first career start in relief of injured starter Drew Brees. Payton appeared in a sideline interview with Russini on ESPN NFL Live.

“Taysom’s going to start for us at QB,” Payton said as his team warmed up on the field behind him. “He’s had a real good week of preparation. He deserves this opportunity. We’ve had a chance to see him play that position more than anyone else. When the fans have seen him, he’s been in a different role.”

It was reported Friday that Hill would get the starting nod rather than Jameis Winston, the free agent acquisition who stepped in to replace Brees after he suffered serious chest injuries a week ago. When asked why Hill wasn’t his pick at the time, Payton explained that he had spent a week of practice preparing for a different role.

This time around, Hill has gotten every opportunity to get comfortable as a passer. He took the first- and second-team snaps in practice and has a full allotment of weapons; the Saints won’t be running any plays with Brees as a decoy on one side of the formation as seen in the past.

The Saints have been telling anyone who would listen that Hill is their next quarterback for life after Brees. Now that Payton has formally announced him as the starter against Atlanta, Hill has an opportunity to prove it.

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7 reasons the Saints starting Taysom Hill is taking the NFL by storm

The New Orleans Saints are starting Taysom Hill at quarterback against the Atlanta Falcons instead of Jameis Winston in relief of Drew Brees.

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The New Orleans Saints sent spectators into an uproar on Friday when ESPN reported that they were rolling with Taysom Hill to start at quarterback in relief of Drew Brees, rather than the more-experienced Jameis Winston. Hill’s doubters have put together a ton of talking points, ranging from his age to his college performance. But here are seven topics we’ll be keeping in mind as Sunday’s matchup with the Atlanta Falcons approaches:

Jameis Winston starts the second half for Saints vs. 49ers

New Orleans Saints backup quarterback Jameis Winston started the second half against the San Francisco 49ers instead of Drew Brees.

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The New Orleans Saints received the opening kickoff of the second half, and they started the possession with a new quarterback under center: Jameis Winston, not Drew Brees. Brees had been limited on the injury report in recent weeks with a right shoulder issue, his throwing shoulder, and he was spotted spending extra time warming it up before the game started.

A big sack by 49ers defensive lineman Kentavius Street appeared to aggravate the issue, and the Saints later announced that Brees is questionable to return with a rib injury..

For his part, Winston stepped in to lead the huddle, though the Saints quickly punted after three plays. Taysom Hill stepped in for a third down run, replacing Winston, but confusion the personnel package forced the Saints to take a timeout and regroup. Hill’s run was stuffed at the line of scrimmage, prompting a punt. Winston completed his lone pass attempt for an 11-yard gain.

When Winston and Hill returned to the bench, they sat apart from Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. while reviewing plays on a Microsoft Surface tablet. Brees was separate a few spots down with his own tablet and wearing a baseball cap, not his helmet.

WATCH: Jon Gruden raves about Saints QB/TE/football player Taysom Hill

Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden is a big fan of his Monday Night Football opponent, New Orleans Saints backup quarterback Taysom Hill.

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Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden just loves football, man. When previewing his team’s Week 2 matchup, Gruden waxed poetic on New Orleans Saints backup quarterback Taysom Hill as the epitome of a position-less “football player” who puts as much enthusiasm into the game as Gruden feels himself.

“I don’t remember a quarterback who can throw and run read options, and then line up at tight end,” Gruden said, grinning. “This guy’s a weapon, he’s a special teams demon, he can be the personal protector on the punt team. He’s a great football player.”

Hill lined up at ten different spots in 2019 (up from nine positions in 2018) and caught the first pass thrown in the 2020 season for a 14-yard gain. And Gruden is right to point out Hill’s proficiency in the kicking game, even if his snaps count fell to just 12 plays after he averaged 23 special teams snaps per game in 2019 (not counting the games Drew Brees missed to injury, totaling 31 snaps in those five contests).

Beyond his own stats on returning kickoffs (with a career average of 24.0 yards per return, and a personal-best of 47 yards), Hill has blocked a pair of punts against the division-rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers (in 2018) and Atlanta Falcons (in 2019) while collecting 13 combined tackles in the kicking game. He’s a force, and the Saints clearly want to keep him in positions to thrive. And that’s keeping Gruden’s attention.

“You know a lot of guys call it, ‘He’s a football player?'” Gruden continued, pantomiming quotation marks. “This guy’s a ‘football player.’ He can play anywhere on the ‘football’ field. And you gotta be aware of No. 7, because he can ruin the game. And they have a great package to keep us off his scent. You know you just can’t prepare for him, [you have to prepare] for anything. He’s just a ‘football player.'”

We’ll see what sort of heroics Hill has in store for Gruden’s Raiders very soon. In Week 1, he ran three times to pick up 13 yards on the ground and connected with Alvin Kamara on a 38-yard completion, in addition to his opening-drive 14-yard reception. He’s already padding out his impressive highlight reel, and from the sound of it, Gruden is as eager to see the finished product as anyone else.

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LOOK: Taysom Hill announces the birth of his son

New Orleans Saints quarterback Taysom Hill had a great explanation for missing two days of training camp practice: the birth of his son Beau

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The New Orleans Saints were without Taysom Hill for two days of practice in training camp, and now we know why: Hill’s family just added one more. Hill and his wife Emily announced the birth of their son Beau Nixon Hill on Saturday in a post from the quarterback’s official Instagram account.

It’s the latest and biggest move for Hill’s household, following the one-year contract extension he signed earlier this summer. Hill, who will be celebrating his 30th birthday on Sunday, spent his offseason preparing to compete with Jameis Winston for the right to back up Drew Brees, and maybe set himself up to start under center as soon as 2021.

But asking whether Hill will be up to the task is a question for another day. For now, he’s focused on being a great father, and we’re certainly wishing the best to him and his young family.

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