I think Dennis Allen just wants to mess with fantasy leagues. How else to explain the late season to switch Taysom Hill (on the team’s official roster) from quarterback to tight end?
Hill has been listed as a quarterback for over a year. He was listed at that position on the weekend, when hundreds of thousands of fantasy leagues were drafting. But today, the Saints decided to start listing him as a tight end again. Whatever.
This will cause headaches in many fantasy leagues. Especially those in most of the nationally run websites. In those, the typical rule is to decide on player positions in April, and then leave them there, with everyone locked into those positions come hell or high water. That eliminates debates, but that approach had Hill at the wrong position last year (with him eligible at tight end but listed at quarterback on the roster), and they will be wrong on him again this season (with him eligible as a quarterback but listed as a tight end).
Hill and others before him (Cordarrelle Patterson, Ty Montgomery) have caused disputes in my league. We’ve settled into player eligibility determined by how the player is listed by the team. Hill is listed as a tight end right now, so he’s eligible to play tight end (and only tight end) in our league. If they switch him to QB in October, he’ll be eligible only at QB. If they start listing him as a QB-TE-RB, he’ll be eligible at all three of those positions.
In our printed products, we’ll be listing Hill at tight end going forward. And if they use him anything like they have the last two years, he’ll be a factor. Hill last year ran for 401 yards, with another 291 yards as a pass catcher, scoring 6 TDs. He also passed for 83 yards and a touchdown. In PPR scoring, that would make him the 7th-best tight end in standard scoring and 12th-best in PPR.
The previous season, Hill ranked 3rd among tight ends in standard scoring, and 7th in PPR.
He’s a 34-year-old and will be used more this year as a running back and a lead-blocking fullback. I think that makes injuries more of a possibility. But definitely looking like he’ll be a factor some as a tight end.
In standard scoring, he’s got two of the top dozen seasons of the last two years.
| TOP "TIGHT ENDS" (last 2 years) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Rushing | Receiving | Points |
| 2022 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 2-5-0 | 110-1338-12 | 208.3 |
| 2023 | Sam LaPorta, Det. | 1-4-0 | 86-889-10 | 153.3 |
| 2022 | George Kittle, S.F. | 0-0-0 | 60-765-11 | 142.5 |
| 2022 | Taysom Hill, N.O. | 96-575-7 | 9-77-2 | 139.2 |
| 2023 | George Kittle, S.F. | 1-2-0 | 65-1020-6 | 138.2 |
| 2022 | T.J. Hockenson, Det.-Min. | 0-0-0 | 86-914-6 | 131.4 |
| 2023 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 0-0-0 | 93-984-5 | 128.4 |
| 2023 | T.J. Hockenson, Min. | 0-0-0 | 95-960-5 | 126.0 |
| 2023 | David Njoku, Cle. | 0-0-0 | 81-882-6 | 124.2 |
| 2023 | Evan Engram, Jac. | 0-0-0 | 114-963-4 | 120.3 |
| 2022 | Mark Andrews, Balt. | 3-8-0 | 73-847-5 | 117.5 |
| 2023 | Taysom Hill, N.O. | 81-401-4 | 33-291-2 | 113.4 |
| 2023 | Cole Kmet, Chi. | 3-2-0 | 73-719-6 | 108.1 |
| 2023 | Jake Ferguson, Dall. | 0-0-0 | 71-761-5 | 106.1 |
| 2022 | Evan Engram, Jac. | 2-13-0 | 73-766-4 | 103.9 |
| 2023 | Trey McBride, Ari. | 0-0-0 | 81-825-3 | 100.5 |
| 2022 | Cole Kmet, Chi. | 2-9-0 | 50-544-7 | 97.3 |
| 2023 | Dalton Schultz, Hou. | 0-0-0 | 59-635-5 | 93.5 |
| 2022 | Juwan Johnson, N.O. | 0-0-0 | 42-508-7 | 92.8 |
| 2023 | Mark Andrews, Balt. | 1-0-0 | 45-544-6 | 90.4 |
| 2022 | Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 0-0-0 | 55-702-3 | 88.2 |
| 2022 | Dalton Schultz, Dall. | 0-0-0 | 57-577-5 | 87.7 |
| 2022 | Dawson Knox, Buff. | 0-0-0 | 48-517-6 | 87.7 |
| 2022 | David Njoku, Cle. | 2--8-0 | 58-628-4 | 86.0 |
| 2022 | Pat Freiermuth, Pitt. | 0-0-0 | 63-732-2 | 85.2 |
| 2023 | Kyle Pitts, Atl. | 1--4-0 | 53-667-3 | 84.3 |
| 2022 | Gerald Everett, LAC | 1-0-0 | 58-555-4 | 81.5 |
| 2022 | Jordan Akins, Hou. | 0-0-0 | 37-495-5 | 81.5 |
| 2022 | Tyler Higbee, LAR | 0-0-0 | 72-620-3 | 80.0 |
—Ian Allan