QB Hill making a strong case
GREEN BAY – Taysom Hill emerged from the Packers’ cramped auxiliary locker room in the bowels of Lambeau Field to conduct his postgame interview in the spacious main locker room Thursday night.
His nameplate should follow, because it’s where he belongs.
Among the dozens of decisions general manager Ted Thompson must make to put together the 53-piece roster puzzle by 3 p.m. Saturday is what to do with Hill.
It should be a nobrainer. No way Thompson can let him get away.
The undrafted rookie quarterback from Brigham Young is more than an intriguing prospect. With precious little playing time – just seven series in the preseason – Hill proved he’s already better than half the No.
2s in the NFL.
If Thompson waives him with the intention of signing him to the practice squad, he’ll get claimed before he turns in his playbook.
There are valid arguments for not carrying three quarterbacks on the 53. The No. 3 is going to be a game-day inactive, so why waste a roster spot on him, especially when he’s 27 and had four season-ending injuries in college?
But here’s why Thompson can’t risk exposing him to waivers:
With 4.4-second speed, extraordinary athleticism for the position and an arm strong enough to make all the throws, Hill is Colin Kaepernick without the baggage. There isn’t an offensive coordinator in the league who wouldn’t want to work with him.
All he did in a little more than one quarter against the Los Angeles Rams was lead back-toback scoring drives of 17 and nine plays that ate up nearly 16 minutes. Granted, he threw only four passes, but he completed all four for 31 yards and his final pass was a 25-yard touchdown to tight end Aaron Peck.
That play showed his rapid maturity in the Packers’ offense. When he stepped forward in the pocket and rolled left, he saw nothing but green grass in front of him. Had he tucked it and run, he might have gotten the 15 yards the Packers needed for the first down.
Instead, he kept his eyes downfield, saw Peck break free behind a cornerback and zipped a sidearm pass for the score. The play wouldn't have looked much different had No. 12 made it.
“The reason I hesitated so long, I didn’t know what that corner was going to do, if he was going to fall off and get in front of Aaron,” Hill said. “I also didn’t know how close I was to the line of scrimmage. So after assessing that and seeing what the corner was going to do, we took the touchdown.”
At Brigham Young, where he rushed for 2,815 yards and 32 touchdowns, he would have taken off.
“Oh, yeah, that’s my boy. He’s running,” said Packers rookie running back Jamaal Williams, who played with Hill at BYU. “It’s great to see him change it up and show people what else he can do besides running the ball.”
Hill’s decision-making seemingly gets better by the week. When he does decide to run, though, he beats defenders to the edge with shocking ease. He did it twice Thursday, for gains of 13 and 6 yards, and his 23-yard scoring run against Washington two weeks ago was a play few QBs – if any – could make.
He did put the ball on the ground in the red zone against the Rams when a defender swiped at his arm in a collapsing pocket and he fumbled. He chased down the ball and fell on it, but that’s an unpardonable sin.
“That’s something that’s glaring that I wish wouldn’t have happened,” Hill said. “But overall I had two drives – had a field goal on one and scored a touchdown on the other. Anytime you’re putting points on the board it’s a good result.”
Hill’s preseason statistics, albeit a small sample, are impressive: 14 of 20 for 149 yards and two touchdowns and a rating of 124.8. And he has 10 rushes for 71 yards and five first downs. His seven drives produced 24 points.
Sure, he did it mostly against backups, but he didn’t exactly have the seven blocks of granite in front of him and Gale Sayers behind him, either.
And Hill did get this ringing endorsement from No. 2 quarterback Brett Hundley: “I freakin’ love Taysom, man.”
There’s precedent for Thompson keeping three quarterbacks. Just last year, Joe Callahan opened the season on the 53-man roster, was inactive four of the first five weeks and then was released Oct. 13. He spent time with New Orleans and Cleveland before Green Bay resigned him to the practice squad Dec. 2.
Clearly, Hill has outplayed Callahan this summer. It’s not even close.
Asked whether he thought he did enough to make the team, Hill said, “At the end of the day, the film speaks for itself, right?”
Loud and clear, Taysom. Loud and clear.