| y across the path of a punted ball when he arrived in New Orleans last season to serve as an understudy to record-setting passer Drew Brees.Yet his momentum-changing blocked punt in last week's comeback victory at Tampa Bay became just his latest highlight that has nothing to do with dropping back from the line of scrimmage and throwing a football.It has become increasingly apparent this season that the 6-foot-2 Ted Ginn Jr Jersey Salute to Service , 220-pound Hill has the potential to become the NFL's ultimate utility player. And if doing so improves the Saints' Super Bowl odds, Hill's game."Standing on the sideline with a hat on and a clip board and a sweat shirt is not as fun as doing what I'm doing," Hill said.The 28-year-old Hill's embrace of his unconventional role comes with risk, particularly in light of his background. He had major injuries in four of his five seasons at BYU: a knee injury, a bone fracture in his leg, a foot fracture and a hyper-extended elbow.But at this point, Hill doesn't see himself playing special teams throughout his career."I thought that I would come in and develop as a quarterback and have the opportunity to compete to play at quarterback," Hill said. "That's what I'm still hopeful for."In the meantime, Hill has made a value judgment. He loves playing, so he's willing to make his skill set available in ways he might not have previously considered."I'm grateful that the coaches here had a vision for me and then created opportunities," Hill said. "That's unique and I'm grateful for the coaching staff here that had a vision, but then they took a chance, right? Because if things don't go well, they look silly."Instead, Hill has already made enough plays on special teams that Saints coach Sean Payton figures Hill, if he wanted to, could make a sustained NFL career out of doing just that, much like Steve Tasker did with Buffalo or Fred McAfee did in New Orleans."Yet, the difference is, I think he can be a quarterback. I think that's the plan," Payton said. "The plus is he has that athleticism, size, and speed. He can do a lot of things."He has very good savvy," Payton continued. "He's catching. He's rushing. He's tackling. He's running. He's throwing. I mean, he's just a good football player."Hill has five special teams tackles this season. He's returned a kickoff for 47 yards and helped convert two fake punts into first downs as an upback, one running and one throwing. He has even lined up at tight end.At times, Payton inserts Hill at quarterback in place of Brees for read-option runs Authentic Garrett Grayson Jersey , one of which went for a 1-yard touchdown. Hill also completed a 44-yard pass to Michael Thomas at Minnesota.Hill said that if he does get his shot to play quarterback more regularly, he wants to be more of a traditional passer, albeit one who can run when prudent."I'd much rather throw for a touchdown than run for one," Hill said. "But I think there are elements of my game that make it difficult on a defense and I think it would be dumb not to take advantage of that."In high school in Idaho, Hill was a standout football player and basketball player. On the court, his size, strength and jumping ability 鈥?he can dunk 鈥?led coaches to play him at power forward. He was a strong rebounder, and with his background as a quarterback, had little trouble passing out of double-teams.He had small college basketball offers but initially committed to play football at Stanford before deciding that BYU would suit him better after he completed a Mormon mission.He began his NFL career as an undrafted free agent with Green Bay last season. When he was waived at the end of training camp, Payton signed Hill to New Orleans' active roster. Late last season, the Saints dabbled with putting Hill on special teams to make use of his athleticism, and he quickly started being the first down the field and making tackles."He's so good at it you're not going to have him just sitting there holding the clipboard," Saints quarterbacks coach Joe Lombardi said. "He's got to go play."Running back Alvin Kamara said Hill has earned respect across the Saints' locker room."He does it all. He's a tough player," Kamara said. "A lot of things he does, that's not things that one person does. You usually get a couple of people to do all the things he does."In New Orleans, Hill has captured the imagination of many fans. The Superdome crowd rumbles with anticipation when he takes the field."Obviously, I'm blessed athletically to create opportunities like this, but I think the moral of my story that can relate to anyone is you can overcome a lot in life if you're willing to spend the time, energy and effort," Hill began.And then there's the part about being adventurous enough to seize unanticipated opportunities."That comes from doing something you really love, right? And I love football," Hill said. "I love competing and that's why it was an easy answer for me when they asked me to do different things. So if you're doing something you love, you might experience setbacks, but overall you're going to be willing to work at whatever it is or adjust on the fly to whatever situation comes up." New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore sat on the turf with his hands on his knees, disconsolate as he watched Tampa Bay receiver Mike Evans coast into the end zone after beating him for a 50-yard touchdown.It was a stark contrast to last November, when Evans caught one pass for 13 yards and received a one-game suspension after blindsiding Lattimore during a scuffle in the Saints' 30-10 victory at the Superdome.This time, the Buccaneers' offense socked the Saints play after play after play. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for a career-high 417 yards and four touchdowns while compiling a nearly perfect quarterback rating in Tampa Bay's 48-40 victory in New Orleans on Sunday.Evans P. J. Williams Jersey , covered primarily by Lattimore, was targeted seven times and caught all seven throws for 147 yards. DeSean Jackson added five receptions for 145 yards and two touchdowns.It was a new feeling for Lattimore, the 2017 Defensive Rookie of the Year."It isn't going to get me down," he said. "Everybody gets beat. We needed to get slapped in our face one good time to see we're not on a level we think we're on."New Orleans, the defending NFC South champion, looked like the Super Bowl contender it expected to be on its opening drive, cruising 71 yards in six plays for a touchdown to go ahead 7-0.Then, the defense took the field.Jackson caught an easy 58-yard touchdown pass against a busted coverage on the Bucs' fourth play, setting the tone.The Bucs punted only once, and that came because Fitzpatrick overthrew a wide-open Chris Godwin after cornerback Ken Crawley fell. The only other times they did not score were on a missed field goal and when Fitzpatrick took a knee to run out the clock at the end of the first half and the fourth quarter."We have to wipe our minds clean of this catastrophe that just happened," Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan said. "We have to push forward."The Saints never sacked Fitzpatrick. He threw for scores of 58, 50, 36 and 9 yards, completed five more passes for at least 20 yards and had another one_a 65-yarder down the sideline to Adam Humphries_negated by an illegal block.Fitzpatrick, starting because Jameis Winston is suspended for the first three games under the NFL's personal conduct clause, had a quarterback rating of 156.2, just shy of the maximum 158.3."We couldn't stop anything," Lattimore said after New Orleans lost its season opener for the fifth straight season. "That's not going to get it done."Drew Brees and the Saints offense matched Tampa Bay for a while, going ahead 17-14 on a 28-yard pass to Ted Ginn. But the Bucs kept scoring while New Orleans committed two costly turnovers.Evans' long touchdown on Lattimore gave Tampa Bay a 41-24 lead with 2:58 left in the second quarter. He caught the ball at the 12 as Lattimore dived for him, but could not catch him."I have to be there," Lattimore said. "I'm all on an island by myself with no help. I'm a shutdown corner. I'm going to be frustrated every time somebody catches a pass on me."There was plenty of frustration to go around on a day New Orleans wasted 485 yards of offense. After the Saints scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns and a pair of 2-point conversions to close the gap to 48-40, Fitzpatrick scrambled for 12 yards on third-and-11, allowing the Bucs to run out the clock.It was Tampa Bay's eighth conversion in 13 third-down opportunities."Take your pick," Saints coach Sean Payton said when asked what went wrong defensively. "We did not hurry the passer. Guys were open. Third downs were awful. They had over 500 yards. We didn't disrupt the timing to any element of the passing game and (had) too many penalties."I can't think of any positives." Custom Minnesota Vikings Jerseys |
