Sea Change: Taysom Hill's "New" Role and What it Means for the Saints

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Credit: John David Mercer - USA Today Sports


Dan Coaching2.jpg By Dan Levy - Staff Writer - Saintsreport.com

Speaking to reporters at the NFL Annual League Meeting, new Head Coach Dennis Allen made some waves in what has been an otherwise placid Saints offseason when he touched on his vision for Taysom Hill.

"Taysom is going to be more of the F tight end, move tight end," adding that he believes that Hill can be one of the best players in the league in this role.

While I personally feel this straightforward answer to a simple question has attracted a disproportionate flood of speculation and hot takes, it is still a significant--albeit somewhat predictable--clarification of the new coach's vision for one of the most intriguing (and divisive) hybrid players in recent years.

In PART 1 of this two-part analysis, I will discuss what fans can expect from this stated change to Taysom Hill's role.

What does this all mean, and why is it happening?

During Hill's tenure as a Saint, he has captured the imaginations of fans, media, coaches, and probably earned himself a roster spot (at least early on) through a willingness to be a football player, wielding his playmaking ability across a variety of positions on offense and just about every special teams unit. And though he has enthusiastically accepted this jack-of-all-trades role for the betterment of the team, Hill has also been very clear that his ultimate goal is to be an NFL quarterback. I won't waste time trying to dissect his mindset or feelings regarding this purported narrowing of his role, but it is important to understand what this move means, and why it is happening.

Starting, first, with the implications: Will we see a significant change in Hill's role on gameday?
The change to Hill's practice routine is really the biggest takeaway here. For the past few years, he's shadowed Drew Brees, focused tirelessly on his QB craft, stayed after practices to work on timing with his receivers, and split his time between meetings as needed. Now he'll be lining up with the receivers in these post-practice sessions, running routes and catching passes. And instead of Drew Brees (or any other QB), he'll (hopefully) be shadowing Michael Thomas, learning the tricks and finer nuances of releases, route stems, and landmarks--details all QBs understand, but are rarely asked to execute themselves.

If he commits himself as doggedly to the craft of blocking and route-running as he did to the craft of QB play, I see no reason why Taysom Hill can't become an even more dominant playmaker with a more well-rounded game, while still stressing defenses in unique ways due to his ability to go under center at a moment's notice.

Now, to the punditry's more preferred question (and fodder for all their hot takes): Why is this happening?

The low-hanging-fruit explanation is that Hill simply didn't cut it as a QB, or that Allen is the new sheriff in town, putting his stamp on the team, departing from his mentor's willingness to invest in the Taysom Hill QB experiment. I disagree with this oversimplification... but more on that later.

When you put the question into the context of football realities--and hard coach/player decisions--it really breaks down into three major factors.

It's important to reiterate that Taysom HIll is a good QB. He is mechanically crisp, accurate, processes information quickly, and really is a natural thrower. He's also uniquely athletic and brings a lot to an offense in terms of his ability to stress defenses. In my assessment, he could certainly be a starting QB in the NFL.

Unfortunately for him, he will always be stigmatized--perhaps unfairly--as "not a real QB." And his injury issues are enough to make most teams shy away.

The Saints have a reliable starter in Jameis Winston, who rightly earned the job last season and performed admirably. Adding Andy Dalton provides a quality backup who has proven he can win games--something the Saints were sorely missing last year. Again, the sad truth for Hill is the Saints no longer need him at QB--they need him elsewhere.

Dennis Allen made the right decision--a decision which will undoubtedly affect the Saints outlook going into the draft.

But that's a topic for PART 2.