METAIRIE
Womens Tre'Quan Smith Jersey , La. (AP) — Saints third-string quarterback Taysom Hill never envisioned launching his body across the path of a punted ball when he arrived in New Orleans last season to serve as an understudy to record-setting passer Drew Brees.Yet his momentum-changing blocked punt in last week’s comeback victory at Tampa Bay became just his latest highlight that has nothing to do with dropping back from the line of scrimmage and throwing a football.It has become increasingly apparent this season that the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Hill has the potential to become the NFL’s ultimate utility player. And if doing so improves the Saints’ Super Bowl odds, Hill’s game.“Standing on the sideline with a hat on and a clip board and a sweat shirt is not as fun as doing what I’m doing,” Hill said.The 28-year-old Hill’s embrace of his unconventional role comes with risk, particularly in light of his background. He had major injuries in four of his five seasons at BYU: a knee injury, a bone fracture in his leg, a foot fracture and a hyper-extended elbow.But at this point, Hill doesn’t see himself playing special teams throughout his career.“I thought that I would come in and develop as a quarterback and have the opportunity to compete to play at quarterback,” Hill said. “That’s what I’m still hopeful for.”In the meantime, Hill has made a value judgment. He loves playing, so he’s willing to make his skill set available in ways he might not have previously considered.“I’m grateful that the coaches here had a vision for me and then created opportunities,” Hill said. “That’s unique and I’m grateful for the coaching staff here that had a vision, but then they took a chance, right? Because if things don’t go well, they look silly.”Instead, Hill has already made enough plays on special teams that Saints coach Sean Payton figures Hill
Marshon Lattimore Saint Jersey , if he wanted to, could make a sustained NFL career out of doing just that, much like Steve Tasker did with Buffalo or Fred McAfee did in New Orleans.“Yet, the difference is, I think he can be a quarterback. I think that’s the plan,” Payton said. “The plus is he has that athleticism, size, and speed. He can do a lot of things.“He has very good savvy,” Payton continued. “He’s catching. He’s rushing. He’s tackling. He’s running. He’s throwing. I mean, he’s just a good football player.”Hill has five special teams tackles this season. He’s returned a kickoff for 47 yards and helped convert two fake punts into first downs as an upback, one running and one throwing. He has even lined up at tight end.At times, Payton inserts Hill at quarterback in place of Brees for read-option runs, one of which went for a 1-yard touchdown. Hill also completed a 44-yard pass to Michael Thomas at Minnesota.Hill said that if he does get his shot to play quarterback more regularly, he wants to be more of a traditional passer, albeit one who can run when prudent.“I’d much rather throw for a touchdown than run for one,” Hill said. “But I think there are elements of my game that make it difficult on a defense and I think it would be dumb not to take advantage of that.”In high school in Idaho
Womens Michael Thomas Jersey , Hill was a standout football player and basketball player. On the court, his size, strength and jumping ability — he can dunk — led coaches to play him at power forward. He was a strong rebounder, and with his background as a quarterback, had little trouble passing out of double-teams.He had small college basketball offers but initially committed to play football at Stanford before deciding that BYU would suit him better after he completed a Mormon mission.He began his NFL career as an undrafted free agent with Green Bay last season. When he was waived at the end of training camp, Payton signed Hill to New Orleans’ active roster. Late last season, the Saints dabbled with putting Hill on special teams to make use of his athleticism, and he quickly started being the first down the field and making tackles.“He’s so good at it you’re not going to have him just sitting there holding the clipboard,” Saints quarterbacks coach Joe Lombardi said. “He’s got to go play.”Running back Alvin Kamara said Hill has earned respect across the Saints’ locker room.“He does it all. He’s a tough player,” Kamara said. “A lot of things he does, that’s not things that one person does. You usually get a couple of people to do all the things he does.”In New Orleans, Hill has captured the imagination of many fans. The Superdome crowd rumbles with anticipation when he takes the field.“Obviously, I’m blessed athletically to create opportunities like this, but I think the moral of my story that can relate to anyone is you can overcome a lot in life if you’re willing to spend the time, energy and effort,” Hill began.And then there’s the part about being adventurous enough to seize unanticipated opportunities.“That comes from doing something you really love
Womens Drew Brees Jersey , right? And I love football,” Hill said. “I love competing and that’s why it was an easy answer for me when they asked me to do different things. So if you’re doing something you love, you might experience setbacks, but overall you’re going to be willing to work at whatever it is or adjust on the fly to whatever situation comes up.” METAIRIE, La. (AP) — No team has done more to limit Saints running back Alvin Kamara’s influence on a game this season than New Orleans itself.That was by design, and Kamara says he’s OK with it if an increasingly dynamic offense helps the Saints keep winning.“I’m not worried about touches, whether it’s a lot or a little,” Kamara said after practice Wednesday. “Just take advantage of the plays that come.”The Saints relied heavily on Kamara and receiver Michael Thomas in the first month of the season, when Kamara had more than 600 yards and six touchdowns from scrimmage and Thomas made 42 catches for 445 yards.In the most recent game before their Week 6 bye, the Saints demonstrated in a lopsided victory over Washington that they no longer need to do that.Suddenly, quarterback Drew Brees had more options when deciding where to go with the ball. That development could make it considerably harder to defend an offense that twice put up more than 400 yards and at least 40 points before running back Mark Ingram or rookie receiver Tre’Quan Smith had touched the ball once this season, and before fellow receiver Cameron Meredith, seen as a key acquisition in free agency, had made as many as two catches.“Everybody on the offense can make a play at any moment,” said Kamara, whose six carries for 24 yards and three catches for 15 yards against Washington represented by far his lowest production this season. “We’re a good offense and we’re doing what we’re supposed to do.”Ravens coach John Harbaugh
Michael Thomas Jersey White , whose team hosts New Orleans on Sunday, said the Saints have “two of the premier backs in the whole game” and an offense that is “back to full strength.”“It kind of completes the picture that the Saints have for their offense,” Harbaugh said.Meredith, who missed last season with a knee injury after leading Chicago in receiving in 2016, did not make his first catch with the Saints until Week 3, when his 11-yard touchdown was his only reception of that game. During the two games that followed, he caught eight passes for 103 yards.“The more time we get together as a unit, it’s only going to progress,” Meredith said. “We’ve got young guys who are learning on the fly. All of that stuff is going to play a part.”Smith made his first catch in Week 4, then caught three passes in Week 5 for 111 yards, including touchdowns of 62 and 35 yards.Ingram rushed 16 times for 53 yards and two TDs, and also caught two passes for 20 yards, in his 2018 debut after serving a four-game suspension for use of a banned substance.Meanwhile, New Orleans has found opportunities to further stress defenses by inserting Taysom Hill into games as a change-of-pace, read-option QB.Saints coach Sean Payton said he expected his offense to eventually become more diversified as the season wore on and will “continue to look at that and keep finding ways to mix and match who’s in the game and how we can get them the ball.”That has long been Payton’s strong suit, Brees said.“Everybody has their package of plays
https://www.thesaintslockerroom.com/authentic-tre_quan-smith-jersey , the things that they’re going to know stone cold so that when they go out there they can play with a ton of confidence and everybody knows that their opportunity can come at any moment,” said Brees, who has completed 78 percent of his passes for 1,658 yards and 11 touchdowns without an interception.“One game it’s one guy carrying the load in the backfield for 100-plus yards and a couple touchdowns. The next game it might be the tight end position. The next game it might be a young guy like Tre’Quan coming up with two touchdown catches — three catches for over 100 yards. You just never know. And all those guys understand the importance of their role every week.”Brees said the re-introduction of Ingram, combined with the emergence of Smith and Meredith, should only make it easier for the Saints’ offense to adjust during games to the way they’re being defended.“We try to paint the picture for each guy that, ‘Hey, we’re not sure what we’re going to get (defensively), but if we start getting this, man, this is your opportunity,” Brees said.
