Monday Night Football offers one of the biggest stages in the NFL’s regular season and the Las Vegas Raiders will take on the New Orleans Saints in their Week 2 matchup. Although quarterbacks Derek Carr and Drew Bress will get most of the headlines, another quarterback could steal the spotlight.Â
The Raiders need to account for the Saints ‘other’ quarterback
When we think of the New Orleans Saints, we automatically associate them with Brees. The quarterback has been one of the most prominent figures in the city since he arrived in 2005. Brees started winning right away and the city automatically embraced him at a time when they needed something to cherish after Hurricane Katrina struck them.
One Super Bowl and many seasons later, Brees is close to the end of his career. He’s still an efficient quarterback even if his Week 1 performance against the Bucs wasn’t one of his best ones. Despite not being the same quarterback he was 10 years ago, Brees can still command the Saints offense with surgical precision. Nevertheless, he now has the help of Taysom Hill.
Ever since 2018, the Saints have used Hill in a myriad of ways and have turned him into their proverbial Swiss Army Knife. ‘7’ has run the ball, caught passes and partaken in special teams. He’s pretty much played any role and position this New Orleans team has asked him to. The Saints value him so much that they gave him a two-year $21 million contract earlier this year.
Brees is the undisputable leader of the team, but Hill is a key contributor for the Saints. Against Tampa Bay last Sunday, he threw a 38-yard pass, had three carries for 13 yards and caught one 14-yard reception. Moreover, he played 12 snaps on special teams. To say Hill can do it all isn’t hyperbole. In fact, the Raiders will need to take the threat he poses very seriously.
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Taysom Hill can do it all
In his latest press conference, Raiders defensive tackle Maurice Hurst talked about the damage Hill can cause. He said he can play any role the Saints put him on and that they need to prepare for him.
He can play anywhere, he can play tight end, put him in the backfield, he might even be in there at quarterback. You just have to be aware of where he’s at when he’s in the game. That’s something that we have to work on and it’s something that they use to their advantage because they can be in all different types of personnels and put them anywhere on the field.
This Saints team will be very different from the one the Raiders faced in 2016. Brees is still the quarterback, but Hill will play an important role on Monday Night Football. The Raiders had better take him seriously if they want to win the game just like they did in 2016.
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