The Taysom Problem
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Taysom Hill is the most unique player in the NFL, but he's 34 and has an injury history. If he's completely healthy, instead of currently dealing with a bruised lung, I think the Saints are 4-0, not 2-2.
Here's what one coach had to say about Hill:
It's such a frustrating situation. Hill has always been somewhat injury prone, but he deserves/the team needs him to have his expanded role. I said in my last article that he is one of--if not THE--most important player on the offense, right up there with Kamara and Olave. While there was rightly a lot of angst about Erik McCoy going down, losing Hill is like losing a starter at 3 different positions and the one player who really changes the way defenses gameplan.
It's like facing a team with a Mike Vick or a Lamar Jackson--only this player isn't your QB...
... most of the time.
It's not just what Hill does, it's what he CAN do. When he's on the field you can't ID if the Saints are in 11, 12, or 21 personnel, b/c it's all and none of those things. We saw this on the first drive with Kubiak getting away from the compressed sets (FINALLY... maybe he read my last article?) and right away Hill was split out to the numbers, and he wasn't matched up on a LB. They kept the CB on him, which means Olave was on a LB, and it allowed him to catch the ball underneath and run for a first down after the catch.
The Saints also keep teams out of those heavy/okie fronts that the Eagles dominated us with. And still Hill blocks like a FB/TE, runs the ball like a RB, catches like a WR, and can throw it like a QB.
So yeah... losing him is huge and I think it's gonna be an issue throughout the season. You could obviously rotate him more or put him in fewer in-line blocking situations where can get caught under a pile of bodies. Without him... you're playing base football, and you're just gonna have to rotate players in (a FB is now a FB, a TE is a TE, etc.) and play without that extra edge.
It's no coincidence (and correct me if I'm wrong)--the Saints have scored points on every drive that Hill has been on the field. And without him--as we saw Sunday and the week before, this team has been a low-output offense.
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