Regardless of ambition, when you’re sharing the roster with a Hall of Famer who holds myriad NFL records and another quarterback who led the league in passing a season ago, reality sets in.
For Taysom Hill, the Saints’ do-it-all player and the league’s proverbial Swiss Army knife, he realizes he’ll have to settle into his usual unpredictable role soon. Just not now.
“Right now is kind of a special time for me, where I can hone in, really learn from Drew Brees\] on the field, really learn from the coaches, be coached hard. And it is a really fun time for me to do that,” Hill said, [via ESPN’s Mike Triplett. “It’s a little disappointing not having preseason games for a guy like me, because it really is an opportunity to make sure that I’m getting live, game-time reps. But I think for now, the focus is on treating every practice rep I get like it’s a game situation.”
Brees is firmly entrenched as the New Orleans Saints QB1, likely for as long as he stays with the team before heading off to Canton. Jameis Winston is settling in as No. 2 after throwing for more than 5,000 yards last season. Thus, despite Hill’s best intentions of becoming an NFL quarterback, there’s resignation that the guy with six career completions in the regular season will settle back into being the dynamic, do-whatever-I-can option that the Saints have used so splendidly and much of the rest of the league has been searching to find its own version of.
So, Hill is doing all he can now in the fleeting days of the preseason to get prepared for his hopeful yet further-off future of being a QB.
“When I study Drew, [I see] his ability to get a play-call, get up to the line of scrimmage, recognize what the defense is trying to do and then assess where and how we’re going to attack that defense with the play that we have called. So, for me it’s making sure I speed that process up, making sure I’m not late with my decision-making, my throws,” Hill said. “And then as a quarterback, I don’t think you can ever stop working on accuracy, your footwork, getting through your progression. So, my main focus has really been the mental side of everything and trying to expedite that process.”