Taysom

Hill

Hill had one passing attempt go incomplete and one target that was incomplete as well. The Saints would do Hill a favor if they didn’t make it so obvious every time they were about to hand him the ball around the goal line. Hill’s package has never looked so ineffective heading into the Saints’ Week 11 bye week.

Hill ripped off a 29-yard rumbling run up the middle on the Saints’ fourth drive and was allowed to stay in for two more plays. He then gained one yard on the ground before throwing an incomplete pass to No. 2 WR Rashid Shaheed. Hill’s most consequential play occurred late in the game, when head coach Kellen Moore subbed out rookie Tyler Shough for Hill on 4th-and-2 from the Rams’ seven-yard line. Hill’s seemingly-obvious run up the middle was stuffed for a two-yard loss, robbing Shough of a valuable rep. Hill is a boom-bust TE2 against the Panthers next week.

Johnson largely had a nondescript day, as the Saints’ offense struggled to move the chains. The veteran tight end picked up a first down on the Saints’ second drive, and later earned a target on 4th-and-2 in the fourth quarter, though he followed that play up with a drop. Taysom Hill totaled just three touches in his gadget role. Johnson is just a borderline TE1/2 against the Rams next week.

Miller injured his knee in the second quarter but was able to walk into the locker room under his own power. He will not return to the game, but the Saints will hope that the injury isn’t serious. Miller finished the day with one carry for seven yards. Expect some more work for Devin Neal and also Taysom Hill.

Hill played sparingly once again, with 12 snaps after a nine-snap debut in Week 5, but head coach Kellen Moore subbed him in for at least one high-leverage play, a goal line snap from the one. Hill did what he does best and burst into the end zone for his first score of the year. Hill went from six carries and one pass attempt in Week 5 to one total touch in Week 6. His role is minuscule, but he is at least doing enough to be a thorn in the side of multiple players on the offense going forward. Alvin Kamara, who now has more competition for goal line touches, will be most affected by Hill’s presence. Hill himself is nothing more than a touchdown-or-bust TE3 right now.

In other words, should Spencer Rattler get hurt or benched, Hill could be a factor in what happens — it’s not just Tyler Shough anymore. We’d expect Hill’s work to grow a little this week, perhaps enough to cannibalize Kendre Miller and Alvin Kamara’s ceiling cases. It seems like Moore doesn’t have a limitation yet on the number of ways he’s envisioning using Hill and that makes him fantasy-interesting even if last week’s line is not exciting.

Hill made his season debut after being activated off the PUP list this week following offseason knee surgery. The 35-year-old wasn’t targeted in the passing game and saw most of his action on the last drive of the game when the Saints were trying to run out the clock. He’s unlikely to be fully healthy for a few weeks, and Kendre Miller is now healthy, so there isn’t really a fantasy-friendly role here.

With Foster, Mauro and Tyson Hill also both active, the Saints will have their top three tight ends all active for the same game for the first time this season. What that means for all of their usage remains to be seen, but it’s hard to start any of them with confidence this week until we see how the Saints deploy them. The Saints declared OG Cesar Ruiz, CB Isaac Yiadom, DE Chase Young, DT Khristian Boyd, OT Xavier Truss, and RB Devin Neal inactive.

This comes from Saints Beat Reporter Nick Underhill via X. It remains unclear what that role will be, although Underhill speculates that the team could look to get the veteran involved at both quarterback and tight end. Juwan Johnson is questionable with an ankle injury while Foster Moreau has yet to be activated from the PUP list, potentially opening up additional room for Hill to serve as a quasi-tight end against the Giants.

It’s a good sign for both that they practiced all week without setbacks. If Juwan Johnson (ankle) is down in Week 5, one of them could walk in to a big role right away in Kellen Moore’s offense. It’ll probably be Saturday before we know if that’s the case, as each would need to be officially activated off the PUP list. Hill obviously has some fantasy upside if healthy, but he’s also a 35-year-old coming off a serious knee injury. Tread carefully.