As New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas once said, Taysom Hill is a create-a-player. There is one particular player he was created like, however: Steve Young.
Hill, a quarterback/returner/runner/receiver, is the NFL's ultimate do-it-all weapon that teams had to account for every time he was on the field in 2018. From under center, Hill was almost automatic converting short-yardage situations.
After his performance Sunday in the win over the Los Angeles Chargers, Hill displayed that he's making strides at simply being a quarterback.
Hill, a BYU product, has been compared to the most famous NFL BYU product, Young. Given their abilities to win with their legs, it's not an outrageous comparison, even if it's premature to put Hill in that category.
On Monday, coach Sean Payton didn't shy away from the comparison.
"If you look back at Steve's career, people don't remember the time before he came to the NFL, you have a very athletic player that, I think, advanced when he got to San Francisco," Payton said, via NOLA.com. "He always had great ability with his legs, so you're trying to create visions for players, and that's no different than how you'd evaluate how we see Teddy Bridgewater progressing and what we think he can be. That's the business we're in."
Hill still has strides to make to be the man to take the reins from Drew Brees the way Young took over from legend Joe Montana. However, his performance Sunday -- 11-for-16 passing, 136 yards, 2 touchdown passes, 53 yards rushing -- showed development.
"We've seen a significant growth with both him and Teddy," Payton said. "You're seeing things take place on a day-to-day basis that maybe weren't happening a year ago."
With Brees not going anywhere, Payton can continue to develop Hill at a gradual pace while utilizing the QB as a Swiss Army knife weapon. If the growth continues, in time, perhaps the Brees-to-Hill handoff will be a smooth transition in New Orleans.
