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It’s impossible to separate how the New Orleans Saints are deploying Taysom Hill right now from the three weeks he spent recovering from a nasty concussion. He’s been involved on 50 plays since returning in these last two weeks, 12 of them coming on special teams — mostly in punt coverage; his 4 snaps with the punt return unit last week were his first this season. He was the player sent in to try and block a punt, a job normally handed off to linebacker Andrew Dowell, who was inactive.
So let’s focus on his responsibilities on offense, where Hill has worked as a receiver, runner, occasional passer, and blocker on both running and passing downs. The below chart shows the breakdown in Weeks 1 through 5 against Weeks 9 and 10 (all positional charting data comes from Pro Football Focus), but keep in mind we’re comparing a 109-snap sample size against just 38 plays:
As we can see, the Saints have cut down on Hill’s snaps as an inline tight end and fullback or halfback in the backfield, but he’s still getting reps as a conventional quarterback at a similar rate. And he’s seen more opportunities as a receiver either in the slot or lined up outside. That’s putting him in fewer high-contact situations as a blocker and hopefully protecting him from another concussion.
But it’s not a perfect strategy. After all, Hill was injured in the first place while running a route and diving to make a catch. From the Saints’ perspective, he’s one of their most dynamic playmakers, and if he’s healthy they want him on the field. It’s just tough to balance that with concerns for his health — which will extend well beyond his athletic prime and playing career, as our Maddy Hudak discussed last week. If Hill isn’t going to start under center, the Saints are rationalizing, they can still keep him involved in the offense without unnecessarily putting him in harm’s way.
And they do need his help. Hill has been one of the Saints’ best weapons on critical downs in recent years. Here are his first down conversion stats as a passer, runner, and receiver in 2021:
- Passing: 4 first downs on 8 pass attempts (6 completions), 50%
- Rushing: 11 first downs on 20 carries, 55%
- Receiving: 4 first downs on 6 targets (4 receptions), 66%
That’s another small sample size but it extends to Hill’s entire career, where he’s converted a first down on 39% of pass attempts, 41% of rushing attempts, and 47% of his targets as a receiver. Compare that to the first down conversion rates the Saints are posting as a team this year on runs (24%) and passes (36%) and you can see why Sean Payton continues to keep Hill involved.
But as we’ve seen: it’s a tough act to balance. Hill’s durability issues (Sean Payton noted that he got “nicked up” against the Titans) and mixed results as a starter last season could make the Saints hesitate to start him again. He’s taken a sack on 10.1% of his dropbacks, which is bad enough on its own before you consider that 2.8% of his pass attempts have been intercepted or that he’s fumbled on 3.2% of his total touches. For context, here are how those rates compare to Jameis Winston and Trevor Siemian’s career numbers:
- Interception rate: Winston 3.3%, Hill 2.8%, Siemian 2.5%
- Fumble rate: Hill 3.2%, Winston 1.7%, Siemian 1.1%
- Sack rate: Hill 10.1%, Siemian 7.1%, Winston 6.3%
So between Hill’s propensity for negative plays and his injury history, it’s up to Payton and the Saints to figure out how heavily he should be involved in the offense despite the potential upsides. They could absolutely throw us all a curve ball and announce him as the starter some time this season, but for now it looks like Payton wants to more carefully curate when Hill is getting into the game and what exactly his responsibilities will be. Hopefully it works out for the best.
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