RADIO
New Orleans is the number one seed in the NFC at the moment. They got there despite not having Michael Thomas most of the season. Their defense also struggled early before coming together lately. What did the team have then to make them so solid? Drew Brees.
He may not be what he used to be, but he is still accurate and has a great offensive line as well as Alvin Kamara. With him now out for possibly the rest of the season, what can we expect from the Saints? More importantly and the purpose of this article, what can we expect from Taysom Hill?
So far, we have only seen one game of Hill as the QB. Although he got the win against Atlanta, a lot of this had to do with the defense he was facing. They were not ready to face such a run threat and with Julio Jones going out early, the offense collapsed in front of Matt Ryan. Moving forward, things may be different. So, let us look ahead to find out how Hill will do the rest of the way.
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The Good
We know Hill can run. He had 51 yards on nine attempts in his first outing. This led him to also have two rushing touchdowns in the Saints' 24-9 victory against the Falcons. He was also able to throw surprisingly well to his receivers.
Emmanuel Sanders brought in a great catch and Michael Thomas finally went over 100 yards in a game for the first time this season. If these players continue to perform and the offensive line continues to protect him, Hill will be simply fine.
Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray will be even better with a rushing QB next to them. While Kamara may take a bit of a step back, this could be due more so to the Saints wanting him to stay healthy while Brees is out. They will lean more on Murray to pick up the load. In the first game with Hill as QB, Murray had 12 rushes and two targets on almost 50% of the snaps for New Orleans. There is no chance he overtakes Kamara but using him more in hopes of saving Kamara for the playoffs is smart. This will move Murray into the RB3 area while dropping Kamara slightly. He is still a top-two RB in the league this season with Dalvin Cook so he will not be irrelevant but expect him to be closer to a top-eight back than a top-two back for a while.
The Bad
Yes, Hill was able to find Thomas for the tune of 100 yards. And yes, Sanders brought in a nice catch for a touchdown. But the throws were not great. There are certain limitations to the passing game behind Hill moving forward. Some of his passes floated away and others were just off the mark, but with the talent surrounding him, he will still do enough.
Hill is not Brees. His accuracy will be closer to 60% than it is 70%. His yardage will be closer to Lamar Jackson this season (192 Y/G) than it will be Russell Wilson (298 Y/G). So, if teams are able to stop him on the ground, he will be more of a QB2 like Jackson and less the QB1 like Wilson. Both Jackson and Wilson can run but have far different abilities as passers. Luckily, Hill will have some extremely easy matchups upcoming. This will allow him to thrive in most of the games. Nevertheless, beware if he is shut down on the ground, as you might just end up with a week like we were afraid he would have in his first start.
The Verdict
Taysom Hill has no excuses. He has the most talented team in the NFC and possibly the NFL surrounding him on the field. The offense? One of the tops in the league and the defense is also hitting their stride. This makes his chance for fantasy goodness incredible.
Looking at the upcoming schedule, he has favorable matchups. Other than a game against Kansas City which will be high scoring and full of fantasy points for both teams, it is a cupcake schedule. After Denver this week, he gets a rematch with Atlanta followed by games against Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Carolina. All of these teams are in the bottom half of the league in defense and he should be able to exploit their weaknesses.
Whether it be the leaky rush defense of Philadelphia/Carolina or the miserable pass defense of Minnesota and Atlanta, there are ways for him to get points against all of the teams left on the schedule. The ceiling may not be as high as Patrick Mahomes or Aaron Rodgers, but it is higher than others like Drew Lock or Daniel Jones.
Will he be a top-10 QB? Maybe for certain weeks. His place probably falls somewhere a little lower as a fringe starter in the 10 to 15 range. Therefore, he's not quite an every week start, but most definitely worth streaming for certain weeks. So, if he is still available in your league, Taysom Hill is worth grabbing for a spot start or two.
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