Taysom Hill

Taysom Hill
refer to caption
Hill with the Packers in the 2017 NFL preseason
No. 7 – New Orleans Saints
Position: Quarterback
Personal information
Born: (1990-08-23) August 23, 1990
Pocatello, Idaho
Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight: 221 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school: Highland (Pocatello, Idaho)
College: BYU
Undrafted: 2017
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status: Active
Career NFL statistics as of Week 5, 2018
Passing attempts: 2
Passing completions: 1
Completion percentage: 50%
Passing yards: 10
Rushing attempts: 12
Rushing yards: 90
Yards per carry: 7.5
Rushing Touchdowns: 1
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Taysom Shawn Hill (born August 23, 1990) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He also serves as a utility player and has lined up at several positions on offense and special teams. He played collegiate football for the BYU Cougars.

Early years

Born and raised in Pocatello, Idaho, Hill lettered in football, basketball, and track at Highland High School and graduated in 2009.[1][2] As a senior, he threw for 2,269 yards and 18 touchdowns, and rushed for 1,491 yards and 24 touchdowns, earning the All-Idaho Player of the Year, Gatorade High School Player of the Year, First Team All-State selection and earned All-Region and All-Conference Player of the Year accolades. He holds the school single-season and career records for total offense.[3]

In track, Hill competed in the 200 meters and long jump. As a sophomore at the 2007 5A District IV/V/VI Regional Meet, he recorded a personal-best time of 22.5 seconds in the 200 m, placing third, and ran the fourth leg on the 4 × 200 m relay squad, helping the Rams to 1:31.41 and a first-place finish.[4] As a senior, he won the long jump event at the 2009 5A Regional Meet, with a mark of 6.85 m (22 ft 5 11⁄16 in).[5]

College career

Coming out of high school in 2009, Hill had multiple offers from programs in the West, including University of Arizona, Boise State University, Oregon State University, Washington State University, University of Utah, Stanford University, and Brigham Young University.

Heavily recruited by head coach Jim Harbaugh, Hill had originally committed to Stanford, but during his LDS church mission, he was informed that Stanford did not allow incoming freshmen to join the team until June. As a result, he decided to go to Brigham Young instead.[6][7]

In his freshman season of 2012, Hill was the #2 QB on the depth chart. He was initially brought in for special packages to utilize his athleticism in short-yardage situations. His very first play from scrimmage in college was an 18-yard touchdown pass against Washington State in the home opener. Hill wound up playing in 6 games for the 2012 campaign, having started 2 (winning in both starts), before suffering a season-ending knee injury in the closing seconds of a victory over Utah State.[8][9]

Hill entered the 2013 season as BYU's starting quarterback. After a tough 19–16 loss in the season opener at Virginia, he bounced back the following week against Texas, with 259 yards rushing and three touchdowns in a 40–21 win.[10] In 2014, Hill sustained a fractured leg against Utah State on October 3, ending his season. BYU lost their first game of the season that night.[11]

Hill suffered a lisfranc fracture during the 2015 season opener against Nebraska on September 5.[12] After the game, BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall announced that the injury would cost Hill the rest of the season.[12] On February 16, Hill announced that he would be returning to BYU in 2016, instead of pursuing options to play at another school as a graduate transfer.[13] He was granted a medical redshirt for 2015 and was eligible for one final season in 2016.[14] On August 23, Hill was named the starting quarterback over sophomore Tanner Mangum, who had started after Hill's injury in the preceding season.[15] Hill changed his jersey number from 4 to 7 to honor his older brother Dexter, who died earlier in 2016 and who wore No. 7 as a player.[14][16]

Late in 2016, Hill suffered a fourth season-ending injury. Against in-state rival Utah State on November 26, he went down with a hyper-extended elbow injury in the fourth quarter, and was unable to finish the season.[17]

Professional career

Hill showed impressive athletic ability at BYU's pro day. His 40-yard dash of 4.44 seconds and 38.5-inch vertical jump would've finished first among all participating quarterbacks at the 2017 NFL Combine, beating Oklahoma's Trevor Knight's 4.54-second 40 dash and 35.5-inch vertical.[18]

Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt 40-yard dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert jump Broad
6 ft 1.5 in
(1.87 m)		 230 lb
(104 kg)		 4.44 s 1.61 s 4.37 s 7.03 s 38.5 in
(0.98 m)		 10'02
All values from Pro Day[19]

Green Bay Packers

After not being drafted in the 2017 NFL Draft, Hill signed with the Green Bay Packers as a free agent on May 5, 2017.[20] Hill appeared in three preseason games with the Packers; he completed 14 of 20 passes, threw for two touchdowns and ran for another.[21] He was waived on September 2, 2017.[22]

New Orleans Saints

On September 3, 2017, Hill was claimed off waivers by the New Orleans Saints.[23] On December 3, Hill was promoted to the active roster and appeared in a total of twelve special teams plays against the Carolina Panthers. In his NFL debut, he recorded two tackles on the Panthers' kick returner Fozzy Whittaker.[24]

In the 2018 season, Hill was used in a variety of ways, becoming the Saints’ primary kick returner. In Week 2 in a win against the Cleveland Browns, he returned his first kick 47 yards. The next week against the Atlanta Falcons, he had his most versatile performance in his young NFL career.[25] Hill returned three kicks for 64 yards, and made a tackle on a punt on special teams. He also rushed the ball three times for 39 yards, and was used often as a tight end to block defenders.[26][27]

The next week against the New York Giants, Hill completed his first career pass in the NFL on a fake punt for 10 yards. He also rushed 4 times for 28 yards, continuing to line up at receiver on offense and still being the primary kick returner.[28] Against the Washington Redskins, Hill rushed 5 times for 24 yards, including his first career touchdown run in a 43-19 victory.[29]

Personal life

Hill is the youngest of four children of Doug and Natalie Hill. He was named after Taysom Rotary Park located in his hometown of Pocatello, Idaho.[30]

Hill is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served as a Mormon missionary in Sydney, Australia from 2009 to 2011. He married his wife, Emily Nixon Hill, in 2014 in the Salt Lake Temple.[31][32] Hill's brother-in-law is former BYU and NFL linebacker David Nixon.[33]

References

  1. ↑ "Highland's Tayson Hill named Gatorade Idaho Football Player of the Year". Voices.IdahoStatesman.com. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
  2. ↑ "Blog – BYU's New Generation of Quarterbacks: Taysom Hill". Truebluecougars.com. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
  3. ↑ "Taysom Hill Athlete Profile – The Official Site of BYU Athletics". byucougars.com.
  4. ↑ "5A District IV/V/VI Regional Meet – Track & Field Meet". Athletic.net.
  5. ↑ "5A Regional Meet (Dist IV, V, VI) – Track & Field Meet". Athletic.net.
  6. ↑ Drew, Jay. "BYU football: Taysom Hill talks, tells real reason why he left Stanford". Salt Lake Tribune.
  7. ↑ http://www.sltrib.com (2011-04-11). "Utah Local News – Salt Lake City News, Sports, Archive". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
  8. ↑ "Knee injury shelves BYU quarterback Taysom Hill for year – NCAA Football – SI.com". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
  9. ↑ Brandon Gurney (2012-10-08). "BYU football: Taysom Hill out 4–6 months with LCL injury (+ video)". Deseret News. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
  10. ↑ "BYU clobbers No. 16 Texas". USA Today. 2013-09-08. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
  11. ↑ "Taysom Hill suffers left leg fracture". ESPN. October 3, 2014. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  12. 1 2 Drew, Jay (September 5, 2015). "BYU football: Another season lost for star Taysom Hill". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
  13. ↑ Drew, Jay (February 16, 2016). "BYU football: Taysom Hill returning to Cougars for 2016 season". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  14. 1 2 Durkee, Travis (May 13, 2016). "BYU's Taysom Hill changing number to honor late brother". Sporting News. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  15. ↑ Gemmell, Kevin (August 23, 2016). "Fifth-year senior Taysom Hill named BYU starting quarterback". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  16. ↑ Walker, Sean (March 26, 2016). "Taysom Hill excused from BYU spring game after brother's sudden death". KSL.com. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Taysom Hill excused from BYU's spring game after brother's sudden death". ksl.com.
  18. ↑ "Examining former BYU quarterback Taysom Hill in the NFL draft". KSL.com. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  19. ↑ http://draftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=93829&draftyear=2017&genpos=QB
  20. ↑ "Packers sign five draft picks, 15 rookie free agents". Packers.com. May 5, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Taysom Hill NFL Stats - Season & Career Preseason Statistics". www.foxsports.com. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  22. ↑ "Packers announce roster moves to reduce roster to 53". Packers.com. September 2, 2017.
  23. ↑ "New Orleans Saints announce roster moves". NewOrleansSaints.com. September 5, 2017.
  24. ↑ Redford, Patrick (December 4, 2017). "Saints Get Special Teams Excellence From A QB Named Taysom". Deadspin. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  25. ↑ Roberts, Rachel. "Idaho native's first kick return for the New Orleans Saints nearly turns into a TD". Idaho Statesmen. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  26. ↑ "Dynamic Taysom Hill giving Saints offense a big spark". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  27. ↑ Gillen, Garland. "Taysom Hill excels against the Falcons on special teams and at quarterback". Fox 8 Live. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  28. ↑ Roberts, Rachel (October 2, 2018). "SIdaho native still Saints' tricky weapon: His pass on fake punt 'stole a possession'". The Idaho Statesman. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  29. ↑ Dabe, Christopher. "Taysom Hill's first NFL touchdown comes with Drew Brees also on the field". The Times-Picayune. NOLA.com. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  30. ↑ #4 Taysom Hill. "Taysom Hill Athlete Profile | The Official Site of BYU Athletics". Byucougars.com. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
  31. ↑ "BYU football: Quarterback Taysom Hill engaged to Emily Nixon". Deseret News.
  32. ↑ "Taysom Hill Athlete Profile". BYU Athletics.
  33. ↑ "BYU football: Taysom Hill born to run, within limits". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
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