Saints’ Darren Rizzi on ‘ageless’ Taysom Hill’s three-touchdown day: ‘He certainly doesn’t look 34’ Nov 18, 2024

Mr. Do-it-all, Taysom Hill, did, in fact, do it all in the New Orleans Saints’ 35-14 victory over the Cleveland Browns.

Hill led the Saints with 138 rushing yards on seven carries — for a comical 19.7 yards per carry average — with three touchdowns. He led New Orleans with eight catches for 50 yards and completed one of two passes for 18 yards with an interception. He also added a 42-yard kick return for good measure.

In a game bogged down for much of the second and third quarters, Hill essentially said, “Enough with this nonsense,” and ended the game.

“He’s kind of an ageless guy,” Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi said, via Katherine Terrell of ESPN. “He certainly doesn’t look 34. He looked more like a 24-year-old today, that’s for sure. We’ve got to be smart with the usage and the play counts and all that stuff, and we can’t just sweep it under the rug — his age — but man, I think the reason he has success is because of what he does for the whole calendar year: his preparation, his nutrition, all those things.”

Long considered the most versatile player in the NFL, able to play quarterback and the personal punt protector on back-to-back snaps, Hill put his versatility on true display Sunday. Across 32 offensive snaps, the Swiss Army knife lined up in the slot 10 times, at quarterback eight times, in the backfield six times, aligned tight four times and out wide on four plays, per Next Gen Stats. He also had 11 special teams snaps.

“It’s unbelievable what he does, what we ask him to do,” quarterback Derek Carr said. “He’s fullback, lead blocking on inside zones … then he’s playing tight end, then he’s at receiver and he’s playing quarterback. Then he’s throwing the ball 50 yards down the field. Then he’s running with it from quarterback.

“Then I’m turning around and I’m in a no-huddle situation, checking plays to hand him the ball at running back. It’s like, good luck finding someone that can do all those things.”

No one can.

Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak entered the season planning to get Hill more involved than previous coordinators, but with Hill suffering an early-season injury, that didn’t work out as planned. However, given the injuries the offense has sustained, particularly at receiver, Sunday was a Hill party.

“We looked at some other games this year when Taysom was active and … I think collectively felt like, yeah, we’ve got to get this guy the ball more and get him more involved,” Rizzi said.

If Sean Payton, whose initial infatuation with Hill brought the playmaker to New Orleans, finds time to turn on the Saints film this week, he will be beaming. It truly was an all-time performance.

Hill joined LaDainian Tomlinson as the only two players since 1950 with at least 100 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns and eight receptions in a game, per NFL Research. L.T. and T.H. Two of a kind.