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Stand down, Taysom Hill enthusiasts. New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton announced Friday that he’ll be sticking with Trevor Siemian as his starting quarterback in this week’s game with the Tennessee Titans.
It makes sense. Siemian played well enough to beat the Atlanta Falcons a week ago, but a series of drops from his receivers dropped his adjusted completion percentage (which accounts for drops, throwaways, and spiked passes) from 73.7% to a meager 61.1%. And several of those misconnections came on critical third downs that might have seen drives end in points instead of punts.
Sure, there’s an argument in favor of starting Hill so that the Saints can lean on the threat of him making big plays with his legs. Last season Hill averaged 9.8 carries for 52.3 rushing yards per game in four starts — he’s otherwise clocked 3.1 attempts for 16.5 yards per game the last four years. Opposing teams have to defend him differently which creates opportunities for other players.
But Siemian has shown he can do enough things well to mitigate it. He’s a better thrower than Hill and has shown a better ability to navigate pressure in the pocket. If the Saints are trying to maximize their chances of success, they should find ways for both Siemian and Hill to get into the game. Hill’s 17 snaps on offense last week, just 22% of the team’s total, wasn’t high enough. Maybe Payton wanted to ease him back into action after a concussion kept Hill sidelined for most of a month.
Hopefully Hill is feeling well enough now to handle a heavier workload. But whatever role he’ll be playing, it will be in support of Siemian. And that might give the Saints their best shot a road win against a tough opponent.