Taysom Hill:
2020 concussion blocking as a TE
2021 concussion getting hit as a WR
2021 sprained foot going out of bounds on a running play
2021 injured middle finger passing from the pocket
2021 lisfranc on a running play
I remember at BYU he had a lisfranc on a long TD run vs somebody (Wisconsin or Nebraska maybe?), and I seem to recall he got hurt running against USU.
I’m sensing a theme here: If Taysom stands in the pocket and throws, he’s fine. If he runs or plays receiver, he gets hurt.
As great as Taysom is running the ball, and I LOVE watching him play–I watch every one of his games on NFL Sunday Ticket–there is about a 1% chance he could make it through a full NFL season playing the way he does. There are LBs and DBs in the NFL his size and speed who never get hurt, but he gets hurt a lot. Some guys are just fragile. It’s a shame in this case because he’s so fun to watch and he’s a great ambassador for BYU, for faith, and for family.
Taysom is one of the top 3 athletes to ever come through BYU. His biggest drawback is his throwing accuracy/reading the defense pre snap. He struggles with that. Unfortunately to play as a high level QB you have to be good at reading defenses pre snap and you also have to have accurate throws. He just falls a little short in those areas. I hoped that with NFL coaching he would get better in those areas but he hasn’t improved enough.
The physical injuries are numerous for him. Nothing that is career ending but lots of them stacked on each other. I hope he can come back and play at a high level. But I think he will be lucky to be back to full strength by mid season next year. That doesn’t bode well for his chances.
Again, I’m one of his absolute biggest fans–for many reasons. His lisfranc fracture in college was non contact, just slowing down as he hit the end zone. His sprained foot earlier this year was non contact running out of bounds, and the lisfranc fracture Sunday was non contact–planting his left foot to cut up into the hole. He’s getting hurt when he’s not even getting touched. His chances of surviving a season with 170-200 rushes (he’s been running about 11 times per game lately) is ZIP.
Your point about reads and throws is also well taken. He throws a beautiful dart 20 yards on a crossing route, then throws one way off…too often…he actually looked much better throwing the ball this year, and was not helped by the fact that the Saints’ WRs this year were TERRIBLE. But your point is well taken. Sadly I think that even if he is healthy for camp, which is doubtful, I don’t think he was able to do enough this year to win the job next year.
Is it worth 40 million? I have had many injuries doing the things I love and I earned every single one. Just Saturday a horse decided to jump off a 10 bank, I had 1/3 second to bail and clear my cleated boots from the stirrups, knowing that if either book “caught” I would be jerked off the cliff, land on rocks with a horse either landing on top of me or dragging my broken body around. I ended up easy with just a stained neck and shoulder, jumped back on thanking god for his many graces. The price for doing the things I love.
To compete on the field at the highest level is pure cocaine. To be a NFL QB, something Hill dreamed of from his earliest youth gives Hill joy there is no words to describe. He’ll be back until his body says it’s over. I too will watch every single snap Hill is in either as a QB or as a Slot.
I feel you…in my 30s I owned and broke a lot of horses. Only one hernia surgery and a few gashes to show for it. I tell people there is NOTHING like standing next to a 1000 pound 2 or 3 year old beast that is really a baby and is literally shivering and quaking with fear and confusion and knowing that you are going to be the first person to ever go up …you put one foot in a stirrup and one hand on the horn and hold, he’s stomping and snorting and every muscle in your body is flexed and all you can think about is trying to be calm in the moment…then you swing over and have no idea how it will react when your a$$ hits the saddle… the rush is indescribable…and the feeling of winning that animal’s trust is unreal… I think that’s gotta be about how Taysom feels on every snap. I agree–he will be back until he gets hurt so many times they just give up and waive him.