3 Reasons Why a Taysom Hill-Type Role Doesn't Make Sense For Tim Tebow and the Jaguars
Good luck talking about Tim Tebow without talking about Taysom Hill.
Over a week into Tebow's tenure with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a tight end, and the theories have begun to fly. Considering Tebow's usage as the Florida Gators' quarterback in the mid-2000s was eerily similar to how the Saints have deployed Hill in recent years, it may even be fair to ponder if the Jaguars truly have those types of plans for their 33-year-old tight end.
“I think it’s one step at a time and see what happens. Before you start having those conversations, you’ve got to feel where he’s at on the depth chart," Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer said on Thursday. "So, obviously, it’s only been a couple days, so we have not had that conversation as an offensive staff yet.”
But does it make sense for the Jaguars to utilize Tebow like Hill? Or does it instead make more sense to let him learn tight end and only tight end? We take a look below to weigh in.
The Jaguars have other skill players who are more important to emphasize in specific roles
The biggest reason the Jaguars shouldn't spend much time on an experiment in terms of using Tebow as a chess piece at quarterback, running back, tight end, split out wide, and H-Back? Because it doesn't make much sense to emphasize such a role for a player who would likely have the lowest ceiling among all the skill players at the Jaguars' disposal.
Despite having two of the NFL's best skill players in Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamar, the Saints could excuse the usage of Hill in large part because the team lacked many weapons or playmakers beyond Kamara and Thomas. Hill was genuinely among the Saints' best options to get the ball to and create explosive plays. Could the same be said for Tebow though, especially in the context of both the Jaguars' roster and his current development?
From DJ Chark to Marvin Jones to Laviska Shenault to Travis Etienne and James Robinson, the Jaguars have plenty of versatile options for both the running and passing game. Setting up a specific package for Tebow when the team would be better off putting the ball in the hands of any of the other five players would be a poor move, especially since Etienne and Shenault have receiver/running back capability. The Saints had a reason to make Hill such a big part of the offense. The Jaguars and Tebow? Not so much. The Jaguars have a need at tight end, not at offensive weapon -- it is important to recognize the difference.
Does Tebow match Hill's athletic skill set and play style?
The next question is whether Tebow actually makes sense in a role like the one the Saints have implemented for Hill. Tebow's ability to grind out short yaradge plays on rushing attempts can't be doubted -- just look at his tenure with the Broncos when he was smaller in terms of muscle mass than he is today. It is the rest of his skill set that is in question, at least when it comes to the Taysom Hill question. With that said, Hill does more than just run quarterback power for the Saints.
Hill has been targeted 41 times as a receiver, catching 30 passes for 336 yards (12.2 yards per catch) and seven touchdowns, including six touchdowns in 2019 alone. While Tebow is being trained at a pass-catching position, he doesn't exactly have the traits Hill has that has made him a dual-threat. Hill can legitimately run by linebackers and create separation against man coverage, while Tebow's ability to do so is probably his biggest question mark. For reference, Hill ran a 4.45 40-yard dash at 225 pounds. Tebow ran a 4.71 40-yard dash at 236 pounds in 2020. Even when Tebow was smaller, he was a good bit less dynamic of an athlete from a speed aspect than Hill. Now that Tebow is even bigger, it is hard to make an argument that he has gotten any faster, especially considering his lack of suddenness during Thursday's practice that was open to the media. Tebow can certainly run the ball like Hill in terms of his power, but it is a legitimate point that he doesn't have the same explosiveness.
The Jaguars, unlike the Saints, don't need to add a mobile element to the quarterback position
Finally, the Jaguars don't have much reason to create a role for Tebow like Hill because, well, their quarterback situation is far, far different from the situation the Saints operated under during the last few years of Hill's utilization. The Saints had an aging and lumbering quarterback in Drew Brees who offered no mobility from the quarterback position. The Jaguars, however, are operating under considerably different circumstances.
While the Jaguars are unlikely to use No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence as a rusher as frequently as the Arizona Cardinals use Kyler Murray or Baltimore Ravens use Lamar Jackson, Lawrence is still an incredibly dynamic player thanks to his athleticism. Lawrence likely would have clocked in a 40-yard dash below a 4.70 and we have plenty of instances of seeing him outrun linebackers and even defensive backs in college. The Jaguars already have a pair of wheels to use from under center to put pressure on defenses -- they don't need another, at least not like the Saints did.
