Renner: Taysom Hill proved the doubters wrong, but pump the brakes for now

Back when Taysom Hill first became a “thing” for the Saints in 2018, I was all on board with how the team took advantage of his talents. His gadget usage in short-yardage and goal-line situations was actually exploiting a market inefficiency. Having a rushing threat at the quarterback position makes offenses far more potent in those situations. It was the “quarterback” designation, however, that few could get on board with.

Despite head coach Sean Payton’s comparison of Hill to Steve Young, Hill’s proclamation that he’s a franchise quarterback and the hefty — and completely unnecessary at the time — extension he signed, no one ever took him seriously as an every-down signal-caller. So much so that the moment Drew Brees went down, Jameis Winston was the most added player last week in fantasy football. Even after Hill was announced as the starter last week, some still believed it was just the master troll up to his old tricks.

But all the jokes and memes came to a halt Sunday. Hill went 18-of-23 for 233 yards and added 10 carries for 51 yards and two scores in a 24-9 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Of those five incompletions, two were dropped and one was a batted pass. He finished with an 81.1 passing grade on the day. Even the biggest Hill detractors have to admit he played the quarterback position … as a good quarterback would.