Saints QB Competition Should Favor Taysom Hill

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – BYU fans that follow former players in the NFL will be paying close attention to the Saints quarterback competition with Taysom Hill and Jameis Winston.

During the offseason, Drew Brees announced his retirement and now all eyes will be on either Taysom Hill or Jameis Winston to carry the torch for the Saints. Head coach Sean Payton threw a wrench in the QB room by taking Notre Dame signal caller Ian Book in the NFL Draft.

This was discussed on two separate occasions on Cougar Sports Saturday with Matt Baiamonte and Mitch Harper.

The QB Competition Favors Taysom Hill

With Ian Book getting selected by the Saints in the fourth round with the 133rd overall pick, it doesn’t provide any concern for Taysom Hill potentially winning the job in New Orleans.

“I think Sean Payton says ‘this year it’s Taysom or Jameis and whoever is not the starting quarterback is probably not going to be around the next year.’ Especially if Taysom wins, Jameis is not coming back,” Baiamonte said. If Taysom wins the job and he finishes the year healthy and is good enough to where the Saints give him a multi-year deal afterwards. Jameis is gone and you need a backup quarterback and why not have Ian Book behind Taysom? Here’s what I think is so interesting, Ian Book is in a lot of ways is a very poor man’s Taysom Hill and what I mean by that is he’s dual threat.”

Harper feels that Hill provides more to the Saints organization rather than just on the field but is a great ambassador for the brand and a person the community loves.

Taysom Hill will have another QB to compete against this fall.#NFLDraft #BYU @kslsports https://t.co/jjAW1rwJDm

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) May 1, 2021

“I think one of the biggest things with the Saints quarterback position and not only replacing Drew Brees, replacing an icon for the city,” Harper mentioned. “He went to that franchise and they were the brown bags on the heads of those fans. They didn’t care about the Saints. They were horrible. They were they were trading away entire draft classes to get Ricky Williams when Mike Ditka was there. They were terrible. Drew Brees meant so much beyond just the field with Hurricane Katrina. You gotta have a guy that is just all class, a guy that’s gonna embody and be a positive reflection of the city. I think Taysom’s that guy.”

YAC Podcast Host Confident In Taysom Winning The Job

KSL Sports NFL Insider and Yards After College podcast host Kyle Ireland joined Cougar Sports Saturday to talk about the NFL Draft but also the quarterback competition in New Orleans.

“I do,” Ireland said. “If you look at the national media, they have just been fascinated with Jameis Winston ever since he came out of college or even during his time at Florida State. You saw it all last season when Drew Brees went out, everybody was saying it was going to be Jameis Winston that was going to come in. We had all heard that if he had an opportunity to play that Sean Payton promised that Taysom Hill was going to get that first look. Now that we have seen Taysom Hill as a starter, I think he has just as a legitimate chance to become the Saints starting quarterback next season based off what he does in training camp. He just has to go out and perform to the best of his abilities. Because right now, it’s a 50/50 toss up between the two players. I wouldn’t give Jameis Winston a leg up. You saw what he did in Tampa Bay, he was a turnover machine. Maybe he has cleaned that up but we haven’t really seen that in New Orleans yet. I don’t think you can say that Jameis Winston has a leg up on Taysom Hill by any stretch.”

A pretty big three days for @BYUfootball in the @NFLDraft.#LocalsInTheNFL #BYU #GoCougs #BYUFOOTBALL #NFL #NFLDraft @kslsports pic.twitter.com/YAyMyM3Au1

— Kyle Ireland 😷 (@kyleireland) May 1, 2021

You can listen to any part of Cougar Sports Saturday by clicking here.