Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Potentially Reuniting Taysom Hill With Sean Payton Is Risky
Episode Date: February 20, 2025Will Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton and Taysom Hill reunite this offseason if the New Orleans Saints release him? How would Hill impact the Broncos offense from a roleplayer standpoint and woul...d it impact Bo Nix the way it impacted Drew Brees in New Orleans? Are Hill's age and injury history the biggest deterrent from Payton and the Broncos having interest in him?Cody Roark is a credentialed beat reporter for Mile High Sports and covers the Broncos daily in person. Sayre Bedinger is the site expert for Predominantly Orange. Both bring Broncos Country the most in-depth and objective coverage of the Denver Broncos.WANT MORE DAILY DENVER BRONCOS CONTENT?For all of the latest Denver Broncos news today -- Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOBroncos?sid=YouTubeLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFLFollow on Twitter: @CodyRoarkNFL and @SayreBedingerFollow the show on Twitter: @LockedOnBroncosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!FanDuel: Right now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins!Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Payson Hill reuniting with Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton.
We'll look at why this could happen and why it should not happen.
All on today's brand new episode, Locked on Broncos.
You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network,
your team every day.
What's up, Broncos country?
Welcome into another episode of Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast,
part of the Lockdown Podcast Network where you know what is your team every day for
all your Broncos news, content, coverage, analysis, and more that you can't get anywhere else
every single day all year long. Lockdown Broncos is the place to be thanks to all the everydayers
out there in Broncos country. Thanks for making us your first listen every single day.
Make sure if you're not an everydayer already, you do just that. So you never miss out on what's
going on with your team without all of the fluff or the clickbait. This is the place to be.
I'm Cody Roark. Broncos reporter from Ohio sports. Join as always by Sarah Bedinger,
site expert of their predominantly orange.com.
In Rockos Country, we got a highly debated topic for you here on today's episode of the show.
We'll wrap things up by taking really a look at the pros and cons for Tayom Hill coming to Denver.
Reasons for him not to come to Denver, but more importantly, we're going to kick things off by asking the question here.
Could Sean Payton and Tayson Hill reunite in Denver this season?
Definitely something, Sarah, that is going on in terms of the social media discussions.
I find it to be very interesting because this is one of those topics where it's like you look at Taysom Hill as a player.
We all know how talented of a player he is, talented of an athlete.
Obviously, Sean Payton has raved about Taysam Hill, dating back to his time coaching him.
But when we've talked about guys like Cooper Cup, Debo Samuel, the one thing that gets brought up age, injuries.
You look at Tysm Hill, age and injuries really are the biggest negative mark against him.
They are, Cody.
I mean, shoot, Tase him.
I are both, I guess he's going to be 35, so he's a little bit younger than I am, but I'm already
35. I can't imagine going out there and prepping to play an NFL season, but then again,
I'm not Tayson Hill. But I can resonate with at least him being the old guy at this point.
And I know I've, I've been told Cody, I've achieved unc status. So I guess that means so has
Taysam Hill at this point. We're talking about Unc Taysam Hill. And look, I think that it is
interesting. There's double standards all over the place when you're having discussions.
You know, you can't like this person, but I can like this person. You can't have, you know,
any good reasons to want this guy on the team, but I can have good reasons to want this guy.
So I don't know, I personally love the open discussion and I do believe that there's a good
chance that Tassum Hill would come to Denver, regardless of whether or not anybody thinks it's a
good idea. And we're going to talk about that on today's show, why it could be a good idea or a bad
idea, but the NFL, we know this. It's so much about who you know. I mean, shoot, like,
you look at, you know, Kubiak getting hired out in Seattle as the offensive coordinator.
Who does he hire as a senior offensive advisor? Rick Denison. It's like, oh, my gosh,
Kubiak and Denison still together in the same NFL city. It's like a tale as old as time.
It's all about who you know in today's NFL. Just look at the Denver offensive coaching staff with,
you know, Pete Carmichael there, Joe Lombardi. It's, I don't want to.
say it's the good old boys club or anything like that, Cody, because that would be painting it
in a negative light. There's definitely value to working together with people that you know and work
well with, as you and I well know. It's like you and I do a good job with this podcast, at least I hope,
and I think that we do. And I believe that we do. And there's a reason for that. And it's like,
hey, if we would go do another project together, like, you know, our streams on Wednesday nights.
Like, we work together and we work well together. That's why we do those together. So same thing could be said
of Tayson Hill going to Denver, it's like, hey, those guys, they just work well together.
The Saints crew that has been together, they work well in tandem.
Well, and you look at all the ties too, like even Cody Rager in the front office,
time in New Orleans, Darren Rizzy, now the special teams coordinator was the interim guy last
year when he replaced Dennis Allen.
Like Tayson Hill has been part of, you know, a roster with those guys that have kind of
either been behind the scenes or directly on the sideline there.
And even obviously with Sean Payton and Tayson Hill,
truly is he's not just like this one position, right? He is what you would designate,
you know, in the college game today as athlete, ATH. That's, that's just the type of player that he is,
but for Taysam here, and this is why this is being brought up now as a potential discussion.
The New Orleans Saints, as we all know, have Kellyn Moore as their next head coach.
They're undergoing what's expected to be a rebuild period here for them, especially with the
cap situation that they also have there right now in New Orleans.
And Tassum Hill is more than likely going to be a cap casualty.
And obviously the Saints would incur a quite a bit of dead cap by releasing him.
But that's something that as you're going through a rebuild,
teams typically take that on to be able to offset, you know,
cost and things like that.
And maybe you split it up there.
Look, they could take a massive hit in year one like Denver did with Russell Wilson
or they can kind of split it in half and maybe try to get the higher one first
and the lower hit the next year.
But this opens up a cost effective approach for Sean Payton and the Broncos
to get Taysom Hill.
in the building where if they do that, they get him in the building with Bo Lowry,
who obviously has those ties there to the New Orleans Saints.
And we've seen the Broncos emphasis on getting guys back for major injuries, ACLs, Achilles
injuries.
Bo Lowry's done a tremendous job with that approach.
But does it make sense here for Taysom and Sean Payton here as Bo Nix takes over as the team's
quarterback?
Because Taysam does play some of those special package type things where he comes in at QB.
only thing, Sarah, if Taysam Hill comes to Denver, I don't want it to interrupt any flow that you
have here with Bo Nix. That to me is the biggest thing. Also age, it's going to be 35 this season,
coming off of the ACL. We don't even know what his timeline specifically looks like. So right now,
I'm looking at it. I'm like, I could see Sean Payton and Taysam Hill reuniting, but is that going
to be a move that, you know, maybe happens later on down the road? Yeah, that could very well be,
especially because timing is everything with certain things like this.
You never know when an injury would pop up.
And then all of a sudden, everybody in Broncos country is like,
hey, Taysam Hill is healthy.
Let's bring him in.
So that could be super helpful.
I just think as far as you're building out a 90 man roster right now, right?
And as you're building out a 90 man roster,
I think it's helpful to have guys like this on your team.
But like you said,
it cannot be at the expense of somebody else.
And I think that's what a lot of Broncos country is afraid of,
is that Sean Payton will sign somebody like Taysom Hill after he's cut.
And he'll be one of those guys that, hey, he's stealing snaps from somebody that we would
otherwise rather see out there on the field.
And I think that is a valid concern because of what we've seen the last couple of years
with guys like Lil Jordan Humphrey and others within the offense that were kind of just like,
I don't know.
Should that guy be playing over, you know, for in his case, Devon Valle or Troy Franklin or,
you know, should Javante Williams be?
playing over Audric Estime and things like this.
I mean, these are questions that we've had with,
with players who have been out there on the field who seem to have generated some
favoritism with Sean Payton.
So I think it's a valid concern in that regard.
But when it comes to his injury history, his age, things like that, that doesn't worry
me as much as can he actually help the team and would he be an asset to the team?
And to me, Taysam Hill is kind of the ultimate team player in terms of like the dude.
I don't even know if you give him a position.
Like he's a, he's just football player, I guess, is what I would classify him as.
And so I'm intrigued by the possibility, especially if the price is near the bottom of the barrel.
Well, and I think that's where, you know, maybe things kind of play into the favor of Taysam coming to Denver here.
Because for Denver, it wouldn't cost them really much.
To be honest, I could see it being a two year deal with really that second year being kind of optional here, like team option at that point.
first year, maybe a one year, like one year.
I mean, what would you pay Tayson?
It's made quite a bit of money, obviously, off of his last extension here.
But because of his age, because of injury, I don't see him getting a very strong market in terms of,
hey, we're going to pay you a ton of money to come in and play this position.
Whereas I think if Tayson comes to Denver, it really is like this one to two year window where
that's it.
Like that's going to probably be the final straw or final stop here for Tayom as he's
entering what? This is going to be year number nine in the NFL for him, which it's crazy to think about.
It doesn't seem like that here. But, you know, I think you can look at these things. And for Sean
Peyton, it's, okay, does this make our offense better? Right. And I think in some aspects,
adding Taysom, if healthy, yes, it does, right? If he plays tight end, if he plays kind of this hybrid
role, I mean, even the thing, and I know Broncos country is tired of hearing the term
joker. That's been something people are also debating on social media because, hey, like,
that has been the talking point of the offseason here.
I do look at Taysam Hill and it's like, all right,
this is a guy who does fit that Joker type mold.
But if the Broncos are going to bring in Taysam Hill, Sarah,
they need to do it the right way in a way that doesn't interrupt the flow and
chemistry of the offense, the development of Bo Nix and other things.
I think that's why it's important, you and I,
and we're going to dive deep into it, Broncos country.
Sarah and I are going to talk about reasons why the Broncos and Taysam Hill
could work here in 22 and 5.
You'll get that and much more on today's episode.
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When it comes to the NFL off season, teams are always looking for the best bang for your buck.
The Denver Broncos, they might be able to get a lot of bang out of the buck that is Taysom Hill if he does become available as expected.
But Broncos Country doesn't want him to be the centerpiece of the off season.
So let's talk you into it a little bit.
Let's tell you why Taysam Hill could be a really good addition to the Denver Broncos on today's episode, Locked on Broncos.
And hey, before we get going on that, Broncos Country, appreciate you all so much for making us your first.
listen of the day every single day.
You know whether the Broncos signed Taysam Hill or do something crazy like trade to
entire drafts basically for Russell Wilson.
Your boys, Cody and Sayer, we got you covered no matter what happens with this organization.
Big coaching moves, free agency, the combine coming up.
Mock drafts will start to fire up after free agency.
So make sure you subscribe so you don't miss a single episode of the show.
You're not going to want to miss out on anything.
And Cody, let's sell this opportunity here.
Let's be salesman.
We're going door to door right now.
We're knocking on Broncos' country's doors,
and we're selling the idea of Taysam Hill.
If anybody knocks on my door this summer, Cody,
I've already asked my wife,
I don't want a no solicitor sign on my house
after getting absolutely royally just screwed last summer
from a number of companies.
But look, I think Tassum Hill offers you some really good upgrades
in areas to the offense that the Broncos need.
And I want to start the bidding right here.
Okay. Versatility and experience in the offense.
I think those are two primary reasons why Taysom would be a great addition in 2025 to the Denver Broncos.
Well, part of me is also wondering too, because of his knowledge of Sean Payton's offense, how he likes things being ran.
How does that fit with Adam Troutman, who's obviously on the roster, right?
And look, I don't see Trotman being a player who's going to get caught or anything like that.
I think Sean Payton values Troutman.
Troutman does a lot of the dirty work.
He's not going to be your best receiving tight end.
And I don't think that's the emphasis here.
But it's like if you do bring Tayson Hill to Denver, how does he work alongside Adam Troutman here?
And I look at a lot of it, okay, are we going to see him listed up, kind of what that Greg Dulcich role was early on in the season where Greg was kind of like playing in the slot.
But then he'd kind of be that motion offset wing guy where he'd kick out guys underneath.
Part of me is wondering what role would he exactly play?
Would it be at the running back position at times where he is going to line up in the backfield?
is going to be at tight end and think if you come in right away,
if Sean Payton says, hey, this is our vision for him,
we're going to do this, but maybe it's not like a feature or maybe it's more of a package deal,
right?
Because even then, like teams knew when Taysam Hill would take the field initially years back
that, oh, hey, Taysam Hill, number seven is in the game.
This means that the play is going to him or it's going to be manufactured off of him.
And I think that is where you have to create the diversification of your offense a little bit.
And I think that's why how Denver approaches maybe wide receiver this season is going to be very big,
maybe getting the running game going.
But I am wondering here, is Sean Payton maybe banking on the run game as like,
hey, we're going to focus on Jalil McLaughlin, Adrick Estimate, Blake Watson or Tyler,
but we're also going to have Tayson Hill in there to be able to do it.
I think that could be a reasonable thing that we see here in terms of the offseason vision.
If we're looking at a planning board trying to get in the minds of Sean Payton or George Payton,
And certainly I can understand that.
I'm also trying to figure out here, okay, like what would the usage look like?
Like what are our realistic expectations for a guy like Hill as he's coming off of an ACL injury, especially at the age of 35?
That to me is really the only obstacle.
But let's bank on it.
Like let's talk hypotheticals here.
Hypothetically, Sarah, Taysam Hill, fully healthy.
No limitations coming off of the ACL because he's a freak athlete.
What does his role actually look like that?
makes the most sense here for the Broncos offense.
I mean, I hate to say this term again, Cody, but I mean, the Joker is obviously in play
here.
And I know that a lot of Broncos country is getting frustrated by hearing that.
But look, this is a guy who is a mismatch.
And even in the later years of his career here, he has been highly, highly effective.
Like, you look at the numbers over the last three seasons.
Listen to the stat.
94 touches over the last three years.
Okay.
or excuse me, 281 total touches, 21 total touchdown.
So over a 17 game, you know, average, that's 119 touches per 17 games and nine touchdowns per 17 games.
We're talking about roughly a 12 touches to one touchdown ratio.
So when you talk about effectiveness per touch, wherever he's getting the ball, whether it's in the backfield, whether it's as a, you know, the wildcat quarterback.
That's another term.
Maybe the Joker is trying to just do what the Wildcat once did to people, Cody.
Everybody was so sick of here in the wildcat term out there.
But I think he can do all those things.
He can play tight end.
He can win contested catch situations.
He's good in the open field after the catch.
I'm not trying to say that Taysam Hill is like this all.
He's not going to win all pro honors probably this coming season.
But when you're talking about a guy who on a 17 game average,
119 touches and and nine touches or nine touchdowns in that time frame.
I mean,
when you're talking about a roughly 12 to one ratio there,
that's pretty crazy for a guy who's in his mid 30s already.
I don't know.
I feel like that's a pretty huge notch on his belt.
If you're talking about,
you know,
what role is he going to play?
But I also think,
look,
if you don't want to roster three quarterbacks,
you could have this guy playing a role for your offense.
And he could still be an emergency third quarterback for
you without taking up a third quarterback spot on the team.
That actually makes a lot of sense.
You know, I think when you look at it from that standpoint, certainly Denver,
I felt like last year could have benefited from having an extra spot on the 53, right?
Obviously, they had Jared Sted them, Zach Wilson together.
We just did an episode on yesterday's show of lockdown Broncos where we talked about maybe
why Zach Wilson should be the backup quarterback.
But if you can have an extra roster spot where you can use that guy in some capacity
in your offense, but also if something happens, you have.
have an emergency designation quarterback, which, look, the Broncos, you know, what was it,
the COVID year when they played the New Orleans Saints and Sean Payton, they came to town.
Was it Tayson Hill?
That was the game plan was stopped Tayson Hill.
He and Latavius Murray went off against the Broncos.
I think Isaac Gaddam had like a tip pass interception off of Tayson Hill, but aside from that,
it was not successful for the Broncos against the Saints in that matchup, obviously, at home
in Denver there.
So, I mean, I think that those are some reasons why Tayson would work here inside of this
offense and the system too. And I also think it goes back to the familiarity concept that we
talked about. What does Denver need? Like they need guys that can play effective special teams play.
And Tayson Hill is one of those guys. I mean, we saw fake punts last year by the Broncos.
We saw fakes with Riley Dixon. Taysam Hill could be an upman that if you're in a short yard
situation, you can get like a direct snap to him and maybe get forward yards because he's going to
push the pile a little bit. He is a core four special teams player that has offensive production
capability, which I would argue he might offer more there than little Jordan Humphrey did this
past season here for the Broncos, if fully healthy. So I do think that these are some reasons
why it would work here in Denver. And I also think maybe we have to shift our focus here as well
as we look at this offense here. Can he still be productive? Right. And this is where I think we
all get caught up and thinking, right? When we look at skill players, we look at age, can he be just as
productive now as he was maybe two or three years ago. I think that's always a question, right?
And every athlete runs into that. But there was a game specifically last year, Sarah.
I think it was one game before he tore his ACL. They took on the Cleveland Browns. And
Taysam Hill really was the offense here. Obviously, the Saints, they won this game 35 to 14,
but Taysam Hill had seven carries, Sarah, 138 yards, including three touchdowns on the ground.
he had a 75-yard run.
He was averaging 19.7 yards per attempt there.
And in that game as well, he also had eight catches on 10 targets for 50 yards.
He really was the offense, right?
And so I think even before the injury at this age,
he was producing at a high level,
especially in that game against the Cleveland Brown's defense,
that obviously, you know, Denver was able to put up over 40 plus points on them,
but they still have really good players there.
If he can come back from the injury,
then I can see this working for Sean Payton and the Broncos.
That I think is the gamble here.
Yeah, in eight games last season, total.
He had six touchdowns.
And the Broncos had two players on their entire team in 17 games last year.
Marvin Mims and Cortland Sutton that had six plus touchdown.
So Taysam Hill did that in eight games.
Like we mentioned, Cody, the efficiency per touch is still there.
I mean, he's averaging 5.8 yards per carry over the last three years.
seasons. He's averaging 77.4 catch percentage, 8.5 yards per reception. So to me, when you look at a guy like
this who, I mean, he can, he could be a secondary return specialist with Marvin Mims out there instead
of Tremont Smith. Like he can do all these different things and provide so much value. I just think at the
price that it's going to cost, like it's not going to cost much to get him. It's not going to cost much
to sign Taysam Hill, especially because, I mean, he's,
drifting back towards his roots, right?
He's a BYU guy.
We know how much it meant to Zach Wilson to come back to Denver to play near Utah,
where he's from, and Taysam Hill coming back to this mountain west area.
I just feel like it's all ideal for him.
And I feel like it's setting up for him to be that kind of floor raiser for the offense.
What we had contributions last year from guys like you mentioned,
Lil Jordan Humphrey, Nate Adkins, Mike Burton, the things that those guys did to get
involved in the offensive game plan, I feel like Taysom Hill could replace all of them in what
they do. Or maybe even, maybe even throw Nate Adkins in Michael Burton's role and say, hey,
what Nate did last year, Taysom's going to do this year or, you know, maybe some of it at least.
So I don't know, I'm interested by this possibility. I think there's a lot of good. I think
if he's healthy, Cody, the good vastly outweighs the bad. And we know the Broncos do their extensive
research on medicals for players who are coming off of injury. I mean, that's one thing that they
really invest a lot in. So if they don't have any concerns, and this is, this has become my motto when
it comes to players who've been injured, Sarah. If Bo Lowry says, hey, we're good to go, I trust
Bo Lowry. Bo knows everything at this point. And I think he's deserved that credence to say,
hey, like what we've done here from a medical standpoint, we know how to get guys where they need to
be. So if that's the case, if the Broncos and Bo Alari sign off on Tastom Hill, I'm on board with it,
though. But, you know, Broncos country, we look at all the reasons why maybe Tastom can work here in
Denver, let's take a look at reasons why he may not work in the Mile High City.
You'll get that and much more on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos.
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As we jump at the fourth core action on today's episode, lockdown Broncos will dive deeper into why maybe Tassum Hill will not work out for the Broncos if they truly have interest in maybe signing him this off season.
But before we do that, I want to say thank you once again, all the everydayers out there in Broncos country.
those of you who make us your first listen of the day for all your Broncos news,
contact coverage analysis and more.
This is the best place to be.
We guarantee that every single day all year long because for the true fan, there is never
in off season.
All right, sir, playing devil's advocate, right?
We're going door to door knocking on Broncos country's doors and saying, hey, let's sell
you on Taysam Hill.
Well, let's maybe look at some reasons why Taysam might not work out in Denver with the
direction that they're going.
Sarah, I think the number one factor here is you look at the youth movement that Sean Payton has really embraced.
And obviously last year they were really forced to do that because of Russell Wilson's dead cap.
But that has paid off for them.
The youth movement has actually been paying dividends for them on offense and on defense.
And obviously, there's still a lot of room to improve.
But does bringing in a player like Tassum Hill interrupt your youth movement approach?
That's an interesting question I want to throw out to you.
Yeah, I think it is a valid question.
because again, you do not want old guys that are not going to be on this team,
maybe even beyond this year, right?
Because let's be honest, like Taysam Hill, like you said, he's going to be 35 this season.
Is he even realistically going to be a part of the team beyond this season?
And with that in mind, if he's stealing snaps from somebody who definitely could be
part of this team beyond this season, then that becomes a huge problem.
And I know that that was a thing in New Orleans later in Drew Breeze's career, Cody,
where Taysom, everybody's kind of questioning Sean Peyton, like, what is Peyton doing?
I mean, you're pulling Drew Breeze off the field.
You're putting the ball in Tassum Hills hands when you have one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
And all of a sudden now you're overthinking things because of a guy that's on your roster who's talented for sure
and who can be super effective in certain packages, but you're almost shoehorning those packages into the offense
where, hey, it might just be better to let Drew Brees throw a slant to Michael Thomas, right?
Or in the Broncos case, it might just be better.
Try the deep dagger to Cortland Sutton with Bo Nix throwing the ball or a back shoulder
fade.
Like those things might be smarter to do in opportunities where you're giving Taysome Hill.
So that's where I would have a problem with it, Cody, is where you start to overthink
and get way too cute with it.
There's benefits to having a versatile player like this, but it can.
also bring out the worst in terms of hubris in a head coach.
Yeah, and that honestly was one of my biggest concerns because even like several years ago,
when Drew Breeze was still on the team before he retired, I was watching some Saints games.
And I was like, what is Sean doing?
Like, why is Sean bringing?
Like, Drew Breeze got them past midfield.
And all of a sudden, now you're yanking him out.
You're putting taste him in.
I understand you want to be better in the red zone.
But you have one of the most accurate passing quarterbacks in NFL history.
And you're getting fancy.
You're getting cute.
And I do feel like at times.
And this has been a valid complaint about Sean Payton.
But I just think this is who he is.
There are times where he gets way too cute on his play design or on certain concepts
and it ends up biting the Broncos for a negative play.
Like, for example, the end around of Marvin Mims.
We know how great of an athlete Marvin is.
But teams would almost know like, hey, when Marvin's lined up a certain way,
when he's closer to the offensive tackle or the tight end and he's off the line of scrimmage,
I wonder what could be happening.
Oh, backside motion or, you know, at the snap, he might just take it in line and then get the handoff and then try to get outside.
Like teams knew that beforehand.
So ideally, I don't want to see a situation, especially with Bo Nix here.
What it was one thing that the Broncos improved on this year that they didn't have with Russell Wilson that they had with Bo Nix.
They improved their red zone efficiency on the offensive side of the ball.
And Bo Nix was a big proponent of that.
Not only that, Bo as we've seen, can use his legs.
In a way, it's like, all right, if you're trying to bring Tase him in for his legs in a situation and you're taking Bo out of the mix there, I don't know if I like that.
You invested in this rookie quarterback to be your franchise guy.
Don't interrupt that flow and that rhythm by getting too cute with gadget plays or with gadget players.
I think you can find a way to use Tassum Hill without taking Bo Nix out of the equation here.
That's one thing that I would say like it would not work if that was what Sean Payton's approach was going to be here with Hill this offseason.
and if the Broncos signed him.
And also, I think, you know, another thing, too,
I think when you look at what we've talked about
in the grand scheme of things, injuries, right?
And obviously, we highlighted the hypotheticals
if his injury is fully healed and his medicals are all good.
But any time a player, like, you look at,
what's the website called where you can look at almost every player's injury
that they've ever had?
The draft sharks.
At draft sharks.
You look at Taysam Hill.
This dude's got pages and pages and pages of
injury. So because of his high volume emphasis, he is going to absorb a little bit more contact.
He's a little bit more prone for injury. So if you go out there and you sign him and let's say
you make him a big part of your offense and he gets injured, does that halt the progress that
you've made with your offense? Or do you have something in mind where it's like, all right,
hey, even if Taysam gets injured, we have a plan where even if he's out, it doesn't change
our offense. That to me is where I don't want Sean to get into the deeper weeds of it.
Exactly. And to your point, Cody, about the draft sharks page, I mean, they also have, like, projected chance of injury based on injury history.
And last year, they calculated an 81.2% chance of injury, which ended up, unfortunately, coming to fruition as TASM only played in eight games.
So you obviously hope that a guy like this, if you're signing him to play any sort of role on your team and to be part of any packages, like, again, this goes.
this is a difference of, hey, we want this guy on our 90-man roster to see what he can do in the off-season versus this guy's guaranteed to make the 53.
And he's going to be active on game days.
So Tassam Hill, make no mistake.
While you could pitch it as a, hey, this is a worthwhile 90-man roster flyer, I mean, if he's signed, he would undoubtedly be a 53-man roster guy, barring, you know, some sort of injury before the season or just complete, you know, ineptitude, which I wouldn't expect.
But I mean, would you agree with me on that, Cody?
I think that if the Broncos were to sign him, if he's cut by the Saints,
he would be guaranteed a 53-man roster spot, which would guarantee a game day active role.
And so that to me would be an indicator right there that, okay, you are going to be relying on this guy in some type of way,
which is a risk in and of itself, at least in what we know about the injury history.
But I know we're talking about the negative side in this segment.
I couldn't help a daydream, Cody, as you were talking about it,
the idea of read options with Bo Nix in the back field with Taysom Hill,
maybe Marvin Mims flanking him to his left.
Like can you imagine that would throw off defenses quite a bit?
Yeah.
Taysam Hill and Marvin Mims in the backfield of a running back that,
hey, maybe the Broncos draft a Gentie or a Trayvion Henderson or somebody like that
that split out wide.
And all of a sudden,
you've got a defense pretty well confused out there of what you're going to do.
And then Bo Nix just takes off and runs because,
well, he's the fastest player on the field at that.
point. But look, I love the idea of this. I don't love the downside of it because you would be banking
on him playing a role. And I think there's risk attached to everybody. But this guy, he's a fascinating
one to two year proposition to me. Yeah. And I think the number of things, as you mentioned,
him being an automatic 53 men roster lock is who would he be pushing out, you know, essentially
like which player, you know, that maybe could be on the cusp of making the roster would get pushed
out in a sense in that regard. That's something I think you don't want to see happen.
But look, Broncos country, we've made the arguments for Taysam Hill.
We've made the arguments against Taysam Hill.
But ultimately, Sean Payton and the Broncos, they're going to do what they feel like is best.
If this happens and he is released by the New Orleans Saints and the Broncos pick him up,
we've looked at almost every side of the coin.
But how would you feel about Taysam arriving in the Mile High City?
With that said, Broncos Country, that'll wrap up today's episode of the show.
Make sure you share your thoughts with us on social media or wherever you get your podcast on today's episode.
And for all you every dayers out there, there's another hot topic right now in
Broncos country related to a potential player who could get released by his current team.
Could a reunion with Von Miller happen?
And if so, what makes the most sense for the Broncos?
We'll break that down and much more on tomorrow's episode of the show.
