16 June 2023 , 22:12
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New Orleans Saints gadget player Taysom Hill has done a bit of everything in his five seasons in the NFL, and he is targeting a bigger role in the passing game in the 2023 campaign.
Hill's snaps as a quarterback were reduced under head coach Dennis Allen last season, when he was listed as a tight end on the roster. He only threw 19 passes having thrown 134 and 121 attempts in the two previous seasons respectively, when Sean Payton was in charge.
Instead, he lined up all over the formation and had a career-high 96 carries for 575 yards and seven touchdowns. The 32-year-old also caught nine passes last season for two TDs.
And with a new QB1 in the building in the form of Derek Carr, who joined as a free agent after leaving the Las Vegas Raiders, Hill hopes to see his role in the receiving game expanded.
“I think that’s kind of stuff that hasn’t been explored a ton with me here,” Hill told 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.
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"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.”
Hill has been a unique player since he entered the league as a 26-year-old undrafted free agent in 2017, playing as the Saints' primary kick returner when he has also been listed on the depth chart as a quarterback.
Derek Carr is the new QB1 in New Orleans and he could be throwing more passes to Taysom Hill. (AP)As his role in the passing game grew with news of Drew Brees' retirement in 2021, Hill signed a four-year $140million (£109m) contract, although the deal was heavily incentivised with only a fraction of that sum in guaranteed money.
Hill has done enough in his hybrid role to remain on the roster despite having a huge dead cap hit of $28.9m (£22.6m) last season and $23.8m (£18.56m) in the year ahead.
Hill becoming a bigger factor in the passing game would be a welcome boost to the Saints, with Chris Olave dealing with an Achilles issue in mini-camp this week. Broadening the weapons available to Carr will be imperative with Michael Thomas rarely featuring last season and a lack of established talent further down the depth chart.