“I’m not really going to make comparisons tonight, it doesn’t really matter who was at quarterback, when you have six turnovers, right? At the same time, I said to these guys, there is going to be some things we like on the film. Like I thought we played with some energy, and there is a handful of things that we are going to like. But it is just going to be overshadowed though with those early mistakes. Despite how you play in the kicking game, the passing game, the defensive game, those mistakes will overshadow all of it.”
That’s how Saints head coach Sean Payton responded after his team’s 17-14 preseason loss to the Ravens last Saturday, when asked to assess the performances of Taysom Hill and Jameis Winston in their battle to take the starting job in the post-Drew Brees era. Coach was a bit grumpy, and any time your team gives the ball away six times… well, you have a right to be.
But one aspect of that game becomes clear with a more detailed view — Payton’s long-term investment in Taysom Hill might be paying off. For whatever reason, most announcers and some analysts have jumped the gun mightily when it comes to the narrative of Hill as a do-it-all offensive weapon. Generally, you’d want more than 1,145 yards from scrimmage, 18 touchdowns as a runner and receiver, and 94 completions in 134 attempts for 1,047 yards, four touchdowns, and three interceptions before you make that call. Moreover, Payton’s infuriating practice of pulling Drew Brees off the field for whatever Taysom Hill package he was implementing that day did very little for New Orleans’ offense.
That said, what Hill was able to accomplish as a quarterback in that Ravens game — he completed eight of 12 passes for 81 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception that was a miscommunication — kinda makes you think, for the first time, that he just might work out as an actual quarterback. Hill entered this game in competition with Jameis Winston (who completed seven of 12 passes for 96 yards, one touchdown, and one interception), and he showed a level of quarterbacking beyond the occasional gadget play and remedial exploitations of busted coverages. Hill was in the game for six third downs, and they’re worth reviewing. Hill may not have leapfrogged Winston after the first preseason game, but this season, against a defense that was throwing more advanced stuff at him than you generally see in the exhibition season, he looked like a different guy.