Taysom’s usage this season. (2 Viewers)

[bobad]

I think it's less relying on him and just the nature of Taysom as a weapon and what he brings to the offense. You can go 21 or 12 personnel and the defense still has to match up like it's 11. He plays multiple distinctive roles on offense. He is strong blocker at the POA and is dynamic with the ball in his hands. He has the size and speed to present matchup issues out wide.

Oh... and he can throw the ball as well as a starting QB.

Just having him on the field gives the offense some juice, and he is a great situational weapon (3rd down, short yardage, red zone). That's in large part why the offense is so productive with him out there.

All that to say it's not that Kubiak is "relying" on him in terms of changing the scheme or even the way he calls plays with Taysom out there. It's more the natural stress it puts on the defense with his presence.

Hill has the effect of slowing down the defense because they have to account for him on every down.

 

[meily]

Hill just being on the field means you have to account for him. We have nobody else that draws that much attention anymore. Maybe AK, but not to the same level as Hill.

Olave, Shaheed, AK....

Hill is a difference maker in this offense, but he is not the only difference maker, you do not want Kamra, Olave or Shaheed to get the ball in space either.

 

[Elvis]

Olave, Shaheed, AK....

Hill is a difference maker in this offense, but he is not the only difference maker, you do not want Kamra, Olave or Shaheed to get the ball in space either.

Kamara lines up and does what you expect. Olave lines up and does what you expect. Shaheed mostly lines up and does what you expect, with the occasional Deebo play that we don't see often enough. All of these guys while great draw a traditional defense.

Hill lines up and he can be a runner, a passer, a TE, a lead blocker and a pass catcher. There is no other player that commands that kind of attention and when he's on the field it changes how the defense has to defend the other guys. I don't think the opposite can be said.

 

[St. Widge]

This brings up an interesting question to me. Given Hill's age and injuries, should the Saints, or other teams, be looking for the next Taysom Hill or is there only one?

And I don't so much mean the special teams stuff, I more mean a college QB that's a okay passer and a great athlete that you can train to block like a FB/TE, catch like a TE/WR, and run from the HB position?

I know Hill has great speed, great power, and a work ethic. But it seems like there have to be guys out there that have similar athletic skills and work ethic that could be taught to do the things that Taysom does. It's just that teams don't seem to try to teach a player to do those things.

Am I crazy? Is Taysom a one of a kind that can't be replicated? I just find that hard to believe. I'm thinking of a guy like Haynes King, the Georgia Tech QB.

 

[Pocket Hercules]

Players get injured. He's a lot more durable than some of our other players. He'll be back sooner than later and help the team as he always has. In the meantime, other guys need to step up. It's the NFL, injuries are a part of the game.

 

[Elvis]

This brings up an interesting question to me. Given Hill's age and injuries, should the Saints, or other teams, be looking for the next Taysom Hill or is there only one?

And I don't so much mean the special teams stuff, I more mean a college QB that's a okay passer and a great athlete that you can train to block like a FB/TE, catch like a TE/WR, and run from the HB position?

I know Hill has great speed, great power, and a work ethic. But it seems like there have to be guys out there that have similar athletic skills and work ethic that could be taught to do the things that Taysom does. It's just that teams don't seem to try to teach a player to do those things.

Am I crazy? Is Taysom a one of a kind that can't be replicated? I just find that hard to believe. I'm thinking of a guy like Haynes King, the Georgia Tech QB.

I'm sure there are many others. I feel like players like Terrelle Pryor and Julian Edelman kind of set the stage for moving guys that weren't going to be NFL QBs to other positions but Taysom has blown it wide open. I think going through the histories of many NFL players going back to high school, so many of them were by far the best overall football players on their teams or even in their counties. Then in college the competition levels out a bit and it obscures that more.

What I think the problem is that scouts aren't looking for that and players that are fringe players on their own positions aren't being advised to position themselves the way Taysom did when he got to the NFL. Taysom wanted on the field and did whatever he could to do so and it started with special teams and he ended up being one of the most valuable players on the team. I don't know what it'll take to get guys into that mentality, or their agents for that matter. But Taysom just being a great overall football player and having the right mentality took him from a fringe practice sqaud QB into many high $ contracts. I honestly hope more guys can figure it out.

 

[St. Widge]

I'm sure there are many others. I feel like players like Terrelle Pryor and Julian Edelman kind of set the stage for moving guys that weren't going to be NFL QBs to other positions but Taysom has blown it wide open. I think going through the histories of many NFL players going back to high school, so many of them were by far the best overall football players on their teams or even in their counties. Then in college the competition levels out a bit and it obscures that more.

What I think the problem is that scouts aren't looking for that and players that are fringe players on their own positions aren't being advised to position themselves the way Taysom did when he got to the NFL. Taysom wanted on the field and did whatever he could to do so and it started with special teams and he ended up being one of the most valuable players on the team. I don't know what it'll take to get guys into that mentality, or their agents for that matter. But Taysom just being a great overall football player and having the right mentality took him from a fringe practice sqaud QB into many high $ contracts. I honestly hope more guys can figure it out.

Yeah, it probably goes back to guys like Kordel Stewart and Hines Ward (although to be fair I guess QBs in the 40s, 50s, and 60s were do it all guys), but it doesn't seem like it has ever developed into the true jack of all trades role like Hill. Stewart only played QB and WR and Ward only played WR with a few trick plays throwing the ball.

Anyway, it seems like it's more of lack of teams trying to cross-train these guys than a lack of guys who could do it. A guy like Pryor is the perfect example. But, maybe it's because teams really want these athletic QBs to turn into real QBs so they don't want to mess with their development? Or agents advise guys against it because QBs make more money?

 

[St. Widge]

Now that I thin of it, Tim Tebow was virtually a Taysom Hill clone, or more accurately Hill is a Tebow clone. Why did no team ever do with Tebow what Payton did with Hill?

And there have to be other guys out there like that. And not just power runners like Hill and Tebow, but guys that make yards with quickness that ran Read Option or some kind of Veer or Winged-T in college.

 

[Hubig]

I love Taysom, he has given everything he has to this city and team. An offense that seems to go off the rails when a 34 year old gadget player gets injured is not a recipe for success. The Jamal Williams experiment has failed, this team has no reliable power backs. It will be up to Kendre Miller to be that guy the rest of the way when he returns from IR.

Taysom at 34 years old is getting beat up, and rightfully so, he's 34, its gonna happen at that age.

 

[SirLoinSaint64]

2 TD's. Crazy effort on his 1st down run. Bad man.

 

[saintsmarchin]

Kind of spoiled on what MT did for years.. he could make some impossible catches.

It really is sad how things turned out for him. We come down hard on him about the things he's said but ffs... he went from on top of the world to not on a NFL team.. and one play ruined his entire career. Pretty sure they knew all along that MT was never going to be the same again after the injury

 

[Dome50]

While not getting a ton of touches, Hill is a crucial element to our offense, as shown above. I noticed he was still on most of the special teams units before he got hurt in Atlanta. Man, I think it's probably time to take him off those units when he heals up. Don't need to expose him to more injury opportunities. He's too important to the offense.

 

[meily]

Kamara lines up and does what you expect. Olave lines up and does what you expect. Shaheed mostly lines up and does what you expect, with the occasional Deebo play that we don't see often enough. All of these guys while great draw a traditional defense.

Hill lines up and he can be a runner, a passer, a TE, a lead blocker and a pass catcher. There is no other player that commands that kind of attention and when he's on the field it changes how the defense has to defend the other guys. I don't think the opposite can be said.

A difference maker non the less, just like the rest.

 

[webster]

Yes!

And that's why we need 2 effective RBs and 2 TEs that can catch the ball and get a little RAC.

And we don’t have one tightend that is good enough to start for an NFL team.

 

[webster]

A difference maker non the less, just like the rest.

My point is that Kubiak, needs a game plan that accounts for Taysom missing time. I know it’s difficult without three legit wideouts, no real tightens to speak of, and a lack of talent at running back after Kamara. But this is why he earns the big bucks.