For years, Taysom Hill has been one of the most intriguing anomalies in fantasy football. The multi-positional veteran is nearing his return to the New Orleans Saints’ active roster, meaning it is once again time to weigh the 35-year-old’s value as a fantasy asset.
Hill is currently rostered in just 2% of ESPN leagues and 4% of Yahoo leagues, so he can be added at barely any cost. That being said, is he worth stashing on your bench before he breaks out?
Is Taysom Hill healthy?
Hill suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in Week 13 last season, knocking him out for the rest of 2024. He has yet to appear in a game in 2025, having opening the season on the injured reserve.
The Saints activated Hill from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list on Monday. That opened a 21-day window for Hill to resume practicing with the team without counting against the active roster. Once those three weeks are up, Hill would have to either get bumped onto the active roster or go back on the IR.
Hill practiced in a limited capacity on Wednesday, working with both the quarterbacks and tight ends. It remains to be seen if he will be ready to go for the Saints’ Week 5 contest against the New York Giants, but he is presumably going to return soon – barring any setbacks.
Taysom Hill Fantasy Value
When Hill has been healthy, he has been among the most productive tight ends in fantasy. He is far from the best tight end in a traditional sense, though, since he does a lot of his work as a rotational quarterback, fullback and slot receiver. That kind of position versatility has given Hill more scoring opportunities than most tight ends, as has his heavy red zone usage.
Hill joined the Saints as a 27-year-old rookie out of BYU in 2017, when Drew Brees and Sean Payton were still running the show. After appearing mostly on special teams that season, Hill saw more action as a ball-carrier in 2018. He got time at quarterback when Brees was banged up in 2019 and 2020, firmly establishing himself as a fantasy-relevant player during that stretch. When Peyton left following the 2021 campaign, Hill saw his snap count take a hit and he got fewer opportunities to throw the ball. Still, he continued to put up solid all-around numbers.
After finishing as TE12 in 2019, Hill ended the next few seasons ranked third, fifth, third and seventh at his position in fantasy. Even though he only played in eight games in 2024, he still scored the 16th-most fantasy points at his position. Hill has averaged 467 passing yards, 454 rushing yards, 190 receiving yards, two passing touchdowns, six rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns per 17 games over the last six years. He has averaged 8.05 PPR fantasy points per game in that time.
Hill has scored double-digit fantasy points in 40.5% of his games since 2019, on top of breaking 20 nine times. He dropped 37.1 in one game in 2022 and 46.5 in one game in 2024 – both, notably, after Peyton was gone.
Is Taysom Hill worth a roster spot?
In short, yes – especially if you have an open IR spot to use in the short term. Of course, that depends on the size of your roster, the size of your league and who else you have at tight end already. If you’re in an eight-team league and already have two starting-caliber tight ends on your roster, maybe don’t cut a productive big name to make room for a boom-or-bust wild card like Hill.
But if you need some depth at tight end and your other options in free agency are Chig Okonkwo, Colston Loveland, Dalton Schultz, Isaiah Likely, Jonnu Smith, Cade Otton or Mike Gesicki, taking a gamble on Hill would be a higher-ceiling move. T.J. Hockenson will be on bye in Week 6, followed by Mark Andrews and Dalton Kincaid in Week 7, then Trey McBride, Sam LaPorta, Brock Bowers and Brenton Strange in Week 8. Other teams are bound to be seeking tight end help, so waiting on Hill until he has a big game would leave him vulnerable to getting poached on waivers.
Starting Hill right away is hard to recommend, just based off his age, injury and the fact that he is walking into a new offensive system. Kellen Moore is in charge now, and how he plans to utilize Hill is still up in the air. Hill practicing with tight ends and quarterbacks suggests that he will retain his old role, but it’s hard to feel great about that until we see it in a game.
