Kellen Moore was asked a simple question during Wednesday’s press conference: As the New Orleans Saints look to expand Taysom Hill’s role as he gets healthier, could that include him becoming the team’s primary backup quarterback?
“Yeah, it could,” Moore said. “He’s done it plenty of times in his career before.”
Under Moore, the Saints now list Hill as a quarterback on the roster after having him at tight end the last few seasons. Hill’s actual position is more complicated than the title, given he plays a variety of roles — ranging from quarterback to receiver to running back to special teams ace.
Moore had said previously that he expects Hill’s role to grow as he comes back from last season’s serious knee injury. He played nine offensive snaps in Sunday’s win over the New York Giants.
Against the Giants, second-round rookie Tyler Shough still served as the primary backup — even though Hill threw a 19-yard pass.
But Moore’s answer on Wednesday left open the possibility that the Saints could eventually turn to Hill if Rattler was injured or benched — and not Shough.
Then again, the comment was far from definitive. Asked if a change would then leave Shough inactive on game days, Moore shrugged, said that he loved all three quarterbacks and added he wouldn’t worry about hypothetical “math problems” with the roster.
He downplayed the idea that a possible change was a reflection of Shough’s development.
“Tyler’s doing awesome,” Moore said. “We’ve got a good group going on right now.”
Hill was spotted wearing a quarterback wristband in Wednesday’s practice, and though one wasn’t visible on Shough’s arm band, Moore said Hill had a wristband “like all the other quarterbacks.” Rattler also wore one in the portion of practice open to reporters.
“He’s done a tremendous job,” Moore said of Hill. “He can play quarterback for us, taking reps in that position, certainly plenty through the last couple weeks. He’s definitely available to be a backup quarterback.”