After making nine starts at quarterback in 2020 and 2021, Taysom Hill was listed as a tight end last season and only threw 19 passes as his role shifted in Dennis Allen’s first year as the team’s head coach.
Hill still lined up in a variety of places and set career highs in rushing attempts and yards while scoring seven rushing touchdowns. With Derek Carr now on hand at quarterback, Hill spent the offseason working on the same things he did last season and said on Thursday that the Saints “can tailor that to what they’re asking me to do on the practice field” to what he’s doing in the offense.
That doesn’t mean he expects things to be exactly the same this year, however. Hill told reporters that he’s looking for a bigger role in the passing game in his sixth season in New Orleans.
“I think that’s kind of stuff that hasn’t been explored a ton with me here,” Hill said, via the team’s website. “The throwing stuff as a quarterback or running, that stuff we’ve been doing that for a long time and that’s come really natural for me. I think running routes and catching balls, that was a foreign thing for me and I also think because of that, we haven’t done a ton of it and I think there’s some opportunities there that we just haven’t explored yet. As I look at next season, I think the hope and the expectation is that that expands a little bit.”
Carr said he sees Hill as someone he can check the ball off to because Hill “runs through and he runs over a couple of guys and he gets the first down.” If that becomes a regular facet of the offense, Hill’s career highs may be coming in different areas this season.
