SALT LAKE CITY: Looking ahead to the 2020 NFL season, Jordan Love and Taysom Hill are set to back future Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees, respectively.
Former great Packers player and Professional Soccer Hall of Fame player Brett Favre sees another possible similarity between the two quarterbacks with Utah ties. Specifically, Favre suggested that Green Bay could use the former Utah state star in the same way that New Orleans has used BYU’s former standout Hill – as a utility player.
“I think there are ways to incorporate it in a very similar way to Taysom Hill with the Saints,” Favre told TMZ Sports. “Use it as half pass, half pass, but occasionally let him run just to show he will. Something like that.”
Love, whom the Packers selected with the 26th pick in this year’s NFL draft, is set to back 15-year veteran Rodgers at Green Bay in one of the league’s most stable starting QB spots. Using Love as a utility player on offense would be a way to get the rookie more involved, since Rodgers’ contract with the Packers runs until 2023.
Favre’s suggestion, however, has sparked some debate.
New shots of ESPN’s ‘First Take’
Favre’s comments were discussed by a panel that included Stephen A. Smith, Domonique Foxworth and Tim Hasselbeck in ESPN’s “First Take” on Monday morning, and the consensus was that Favre’s idea of using Love as a player of utility made little sense.
Taysom Hill was not a first-round quarterback. Taysom Hill was an athlete who picked up late and tried to find ways to use it on the back of H or on the slot receiver, running on the opening kicks. Jordan Love is a quarterback. At no time did anyone suggest that Jordan Love was something like Taysom Hill. He is there to take over as a quarterback in the future when they pass Aaron Rodgers, “said Foxworth, a former NFL cornerback.
“He is not there to be a type of device, he is not there to line up on the catcher or execute triple setbacks.” He is disrespectful to Jordan Love and Aaron Rodgers and does not make any strategic sense. ”
Hill’s path to his current role
During his first three NFL seasons, Hill has become a valuable contributor to the Saints’ offense in a variety of positions, as well as special teams, while playing behind the All-Pro Brees.
Although he has thrown just 15 passes in his first three years in the NFL, including the postseason, Hill has lined up in the backfield and receiver and tight end. He rushed for 352 yards on 64 carries, an average of 5.5 per carry, and three touchdowns, and became more involved in the passing game last year, with 19 catches for 234 yards and six touchdowns during the regular season. He added a touchdown reception in the postseason.
That production paid off in a lucrative contract this offseason, as double threat Hill, who was not drafted, then signed with Green Bay before resigning and ending in New Orleans, he signed a two-year, $ 21 million contract for stay with Santos
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/20059343/AP20117726807244.jpg)
New Orleans added another veteran quarterback, former first-round pick Jameis Winston, to bolster his QB room. Winston had a 28-42 record starter in the past five seasons for Tampa Bay, shooting for 19,737 yards and 121 touchdowns before becoming an unrestricted free agent this year.
“The coach (Sean Payton) and I had a conversation before the success of free agency about what his plan was for me. I knew we would always bring another boy, “Hill said when he signed his contract. “I didn’t know who it was going to be. But it is not surprising there; Jameis is a good soccer player and a good quarterback.
“Nothing has changed for the New Orleans Saints. The goal has been and always will be to win the Super Bowl. I trust Coach Payton.
A different type of player
Hasselback noted that trying to make a comparison between Hill and Love doesn’t really count, making it difficult to see how Favre’s idea could be implemented.
“This idea that Jordan Love is somehow a player similar to Taysom Hill is absurd, it is absolutely absurd. Just look at it from this perspective: One, Jordan Love will not be playing on special teams anytime soon. That was how Taysom Hill started cutting his teeth and started having an impact on the NFL, ”said Hasselbeck.
“The other thing is this: going back to college. Jordan Love had about 170 carries, nine touchdowns, just over 400 yards. Compare that to someone like Taysom Hill, who basically was a glorified running back in college: over 500 tries, he ran for 32 touchdowns and had nearly 3,000 rushing yards. ”
Set up packages for love?
Love enters the NFL after completing 61.2% of his passes in three seasons in the state of Utah for 8,600 yards, 60 touchdowns and 29 interceptions. He also ran for 403 yards and nine touchdowns, twice running for more than 160 yards on the year.
At Green Bay, coach Matt LeFleur has built a first-time offense that includes starter Aaron Jones and BYU all-time leader Jamaal Williams, as well as 2020 2020 draft teammate AJ Dillon of Boston College.
During a media conference call earlier this offseason, Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett discussed the possibility of having a game package for Love.
“I think it’s all too soon to count,” said Hackett, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. “I haven’t even gotten to sit in a meeting room in Lambeau. I haven’t been able to talk to him much or work face to face. I think there is still much to see. You never know. Anything can happen.”
Rodgers is now, love is future
Favre had advice for Love, which is especially pertinent considering that Favre was the starter at Green Bay when the Packers recruited Rodgers, and Rodgers sat for three years before taking over the Packers’ offense.
“Submerge it all and its time will come,” Favre said.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/20060443/AP20020079568714.jpg)
When the time for love in Green Bay will come is hard to predict right now. In the past five seasons, Rodgers, 36, has averaged 3,673 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and 5 interceptions per year, and that includes half of the 2017 season lost due to injury. Rodgers has also been durable, as that’s the only time he’s lost due to injury since 2014.
“This notion that Aaron Rodgers is close to being done doesn’t make sense, or that you would want him off the field, it doesn’t make sense,” Hasselbeck said.
Rodgers, meanwhile, said he is eager to work with Love.
“I learned a lot during those years working with Brett, things that I can contribute to the relationship with Jordan and simply bring the mentality that I had when I was a young man of 21, 22 and 23 years old, playing with my idol as a teammate,” he told journalists in May, according to NFL.com. “I’ll definitely take those lessons with me. Like I said before, I’ve always had great relationships with my backups and I’ve always loved helping those guys in some way. The more questions they have, the more I have answers. I have really accepted those relationships, and it will be the same with Jordan. “
