The Taysom Hill Experience hit an amazing high in Week 5, as the versatile “tight end” went off for four touchdowns (three rushing, one passing) in New Orleans’ victory over Seattle.
Taysom games like this happen from time to time, so how should fantasy managers play it on the waiver wire this week?
Our experts weigh in below.
Sean Koerner: I have been saying Hill has the widest range of outcomes of any TE in fantasy football history and Week 5 showed us just how massive his ceiling is.
At this point, he needs to be treated as a TE1 option, period. Yes, there may be some weeks where he only puts up 1-2 points, but guess what? That’s the case with most TEs outside of the top five, and none of them offer 30-plus-point upside.
Are you really going to roll with a player like Evan Engram, who might be a “safer” bet to get 4-5 points every week over Hill? If you do not have a top-five TE, you should be pretty aggressive in trying to land Hill, although after last week, it might be impossible to get him at a reasonable price.
Chris Raybon: Hill will be a low-end TE1/high-end TE2 going forward. This is because of Hill’s versatility as far as his usage is concerned.
Hill has taken 24 of the 266 QB snaps in the four games he’s been active, or 9.0%. He is averaging 5.3 carries per game, which may be trending upward, as that figure stands at 7.0 over his past two contests. He is also averaging 3.5 pass routes per game.
His TD rate will regress to the mean, but he does lead the Saints in carry share inside the 10-yard line at 42.9% despite missing a game. He’s a player to start if you’re an underdog in your matchup and need upside, as he will undoubtedly have some ugly stat lines when he doesn’t score.
Mike Triplett: This is in my wheelhouse since my day job is covering the Saints for NewOrleans.Football. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make me an expert on when, exactly, Hill will have his sporadic breakouts (I regrettably went with Gerald Everett over him as a replacement for Kyle Pitts). But I won’t make that mistake again.
To me, the Taysom lottery ticket is worth playing once you get past the top 8-10 tight ends because everyone is touchdown-dependent beyond that point.
The argument against Hill is a good one: There simply isn’t enough volume to count on him on a weekly basis. He has only 21 carries, one pass attempt and one catch in four games played. However, he has produced six touchdowns already — and the Saints will keep using him in those high-leverage situations, even if they switch back to Jameis Winston at QB at some point.
Remember, the Saints just signed Hill to a four-year, $40 million extension late last season to be a versatile playmaker for their offense. They will continue to find ways to get him involved.
