THIS IS MASSIVE : When Will Taysom Hill Returns to the Saints and how could he be utilized Effectively by new HC Kellen Moore
The New Orleans Saints have made February a fun month for offseason moves, which is typically a rarity unless said team is in the Super Bowl. With the hiring of new head coach Kellen Moore, and the franchise placing their faith into a young offensive mind who has brought in his own staff built around his scheme, things may finally be looking up for the franchise once again.
Many key veterans, such as Cameron Jordan, Tyrann Mathieu, Ryan Ramczyk, and Derek Carr have been discussed in rumors as to where they may end up for the 2025 season. While some players are closer to their destination than others, such as Ramczyk’s likely retirement due to unfortunate injuries, some others are closer to being on the fence. One of those players is Swiss Army knife Taysom Hill, who seems to be trending towards a return for 2025. Here’s more from John Hendrix of Athlon Sports reporting at the combine last week.
“A lot has been said about what the future will be like for Taysom Hill and the Saints. Here’s the reality. Based on conversations, it doesn’t sound like there’s any contemplation to retirement, and he wants to be back in New Orleans and the team feels the same. Kellen Moore had a positive visit with him, and the biggest thing right now is figuring out where the rehab process ends up. Based on that projected timeline, it will tell us a bit more. However, things have been very positive thus far.”
The next question regarding Hill would be his utilization in a new offensive scheme, and frankly, we got a bit of a look at that last season with Klint Kubiak taking over offensive duties. Despite only playing in eight games in 2024, Hill looked strong in a completely different offensive scheme, playing in 42% of offensive snaps across the games he played in compared to 38% in 2023 and 33% in 2022. He was used all over the field per usual, posting the following stat line:
- 39 rushes for 278 rushing yards (7.1 yards per attempt) and 6 touchdowns
- 23 receptions on 31 targets for 187 yards (8.1 yards per reception)
- 1 kick return for 42 yards
The one place he did not get much playing time is in the passing game, where he only had 4 attempts, 2 completions, 21 yards, and an interception. This was not particularly the scheme change causing this, however, as 2023 was not particularly any more impressive from that standpoint.
Finding where he may exactly be utilized is a bit difficult given his propensity to move around the football field to different positions, but it is hard to imagine his role would not increase if healthy. He would likely have a solid presence in the run game given how Moore has built through the trenches and run game previously.
However, tight end utilization in that scheme is primarily over the middle on shorter route formations, which suits Hill well given his previous experience as a tight end. We will see how this all pans out given his knee health, but he could be in for a pretty good bump in snaps come 2025.