With Sean Payton stepping away from the New Orleans Saints football program, it appears Taysom Hill's run as an everyday quarterback could be ending as well.
Speaking Tuesday at the NFL's Annual League Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, new Saints head coach Dennis Allen told reporters the plan is for Hill to focus on tight end, per Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football.
In five seasons under Payton, Hill has been used as a do-it-all, Swiss Army knife player. The 31-year-old has been a QB, WR, TE, RB and special teams ace.
The past two seasons, Hill has started nine games under center, as Payton saw him as a potential quarterbacking option who could be a dual-threat from the position. While he brought a diverse skill set to the position, Hill proved to be mostly inconsistent as a passer. Most of the Saints' success with Hill under center came when he ran the ball.
For his career, Hill has completed 64.2% of his passes for 2,025 yards with eight TDs and eight INTs. In 2021, he completed 58.2 percent of his passes for 978 yards with four TDs and five INTs.
With the Saints re-signing Jameis Winston to be the starter and later adding Andy Dalton to the roster, Hill focusing on the tight end makes sense for New Orleans, which has a need at the position. In addition, it will allow the Saints offense to get Hill on the field more often and provide them additional chances to use him in various ways.
"If Jameis is out there playing quarterback, I don't like Taysom standing next to me on the sideline," Allen added, per The Athletic's Katherine Terrell. "I think you'll see him more in that type of role."
Expect more of the short-yardage and gadget plays from Hill than we've seen earlier in his career coming in 2022.
