Two failed plays will tell you plenty about Saints’ plans for Taysom Hill at quarterback

I know coach Sean Payton is having a blast dialing up plays with Taysom Hill in there at quarterback for New Orleans, but this is not just a gimmick. It’s a real deal, and I think it’s going to be a long-term deal for the Saints.

Payton has been dropping hints for a while, even before Drew Brees went to injured reserve. He put Hill in there a few times the past two seasons to take reps at quarterback, including some drop-back passes, so Payton has confidence in him.

But when you look at two plays against Atlanta, the first two third downs, they say a lot about what Payton is thinking.

The Saints had a third-and-1 and a third-and-2 on their first two series, and Hill didn’t run the ball — he dropped back to throw it both times.

Neither play worked – Hill got sacked on the first and threw an incomplete pass on the second, though the Saints stayed on the field because of a pass interference penalty on the Falcons.

But If he was just a gadget guy or just a guy who was going to be used to run power from the quarterback position, then those two plays would have been power runs. The Saints would have lined up in a heavy set, Hill would have run the ball straight ahead and they very easily could have picked up the first downs that way.

That opened my eyes to Payton’s thought process.

What’s the upside for Saints?

Hill also threw the ball 23 times, which is more than I expected. He had success: 18 of 23, 233 yards, no interceptions. Was he Brees-esque in the pocket? No, and he was late on a couple of plays. But if there were a few plays where he wasn’t as crisp in the drop-back pass game, he made up for it by rushing for 51 yards and two touchdowns.

That could be what the Saints’ future looks like, even if Hill is 30 and still hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass in the NFL.

Think about the weapon that he is. Hill has basically the same numbers as Christian McCaffrey, physically. The 40-yard dash time, broad jump, vertical leap, they’re almost identical. If we’re comparing athletes, Hill is McCaffrey, but he has about 15 or 20 pounds on him and he can also throw the football.

Now, look at the NFL and the way it’s going with Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Kyler Murray. Teams have started to look for those guys, because the numbers they create with the quarterback run game are an advantage.

From a Saints’ perspective, they might look ahead a year or two and think: “Why can’t we have that?”

They absolutely can. With Hill, the Saints can say, “He’s going to give us some chunk plays running the ball and a couple of rushing touchdowns, our red-zone offense is going to instantly be better because we have a numbers advantage; and if we put a hat on a hat, a defense just doesn’t have enough guys with the quarterback in the run game.”

And, Payton is so good at using matchups. The Saints do a really good job getting tips from a defense with where they line up guys. Alvin Kamara is probably their single greatest weapon because they can move him all over the place and based on his alignment they can tell what the defense is trying to get done. It gives the quarterback a good tip.

Is it full speed ahead with Taysom Hill?

Hill is locked in on that. He’s been there for four years, so he has a good feel for that system and what to do. He sits in that quarterback room with Brees every week, so they’re looking at the same things.

The only thing the Saints would get concerned about is Hill taking hits, and that could take away from who he is as a player.

Usually. when Hill goes in, it’s no holds barred, full speed ahead. But when he’s your starting quarterback how does that change? That’s going to be in the interesting dynamic to look for the next two weeks: Does that take away from his effectiveness?

I don’t think it will.

This season, obviously, Brees will be back and the Saints are in a stretch right now where they’re playing the Falcons twice, the Broncos and the Eagles. The next three games are on the road, but that’s not the toughest schedule out there. Defensively, they have a really good front. They have guys who can pressure the quarterback with four — they don’t have to bring extra guys. They have a good linebackers crew. Their secondary is solid; they have a lock-down corner.

They have all the pieces to make a long postseason run, but even when Brees comes back I don’t think that the package with Hill is going to get smaller.

He’s still going to be heavily involved and from the looks of it, he’s probably going to be the guy when Brees is done.

Stick with Saints defense in fantasy matchup

The Saints and Broncos, I like that matchup. The Saints are second in the league against the run, so they have a chance to stop the Denver run game and get after Drew Lock, who was better last week against Miami but still threw an interception and can be pressured into some poor plays. New Orleans also over its past four games has allowed just 51.3 rushing yards and racked up 18 sacks and eight interceptions.

This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 11:46 AM.