The New Orleans Saints begin their season in 60 days against the Arizona Cardinals. When they step on the field, they'll have to do it without Taysom Hill. Hill is still recovering from his season ending injury last year.
Let's take a trip down memory lane to one of Hill's greatest hits. Today's play of the day is Hill's 60-yard touchdown run against the Seattle Seahawks. It was the longest run of his career at that point.
What looked like a routine run that we've seen countless times turned into the longest play of his career. In addition to being a career-long rush, Hill's touchdown also gave New Orleans the lead against the Seahawks in the game's final touchdown.
One of the best games of Taysom Hill's career
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You could make an argument that game versus the Seahawks was the best of Hill's career. It's likely between that game, his monster game against the Cleveland Browns last season or a game where he played quarterback. The latter option may be more appealing to those who prefer passing yards. The games versus the Browns and Seahawks are more comparable.
At the time, Hill's 112 rushing yards was the most of his career. He also paired his 112 yards on the ground and three touchdowns with an additional touchdown in the air. That remained his career-high in yards until he surpassed that total last year. Hill ran for 138 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught eight passes for 50 yards and had one 18-yard completion.
Hill's game against the Browns had more yards, touches and was a more dominant game from Hill in general. He did have one more touchdown versus Seattle. Does the score make up for a yardage gap?
Hill's 60-yard run is the perfect depiction of his value to the Saints
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The yardage will steal the shine, but let's look at the situation. The Saints needed one yard to get a first down. In that situation, the Saints are calling on Hill more times than not.
Hill has been the Saints' short yardage back, and honestly second most reliable runner, for the past few years. His absence may be most sorely felt. That's just one more reason finding a complement to Alvin Kamara is important, though it'll be tough to replicate the efficiency of QB power.
Not only was Hill a reliable short yardage runner, he was also a big time player. He had the ability to have a big play yardage wise. This play showed that. The best example of Hill's big plays were timely runs. This just so happened to be both. Hill converted a critical third down, ran for 60 yards and scored the game winning touchdown.
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