Another reliable, yet unspectacular year from Josh Hill

It’s gonna feel weird when Josh Hill isn’t a Saint, isn’t it?

Josh Hill has been a member of the New Orleans Saints since 2013, and he’s always been someone that’s sort of just hung around. He’s never been targeted more than 35 times in a season and he’s never had more than 30 catches, but he always just seems to be there. While the legend of Playoff Josh Hill that emerged after his 6 catches and 103 yards in the 2017 playoffs still kept him endeared to Saints fans, during the majority of the time Hill was little more than a backup tight end and a good pass blocker.

With the Saints bringing in rookie Adam Trautman in the draft, Hill has started to watch his role diminish even further. His 11 targets is the lowest in his career to date and his 9 catches are his lowest since his rookie season in 2013. He only picked up 43 yards this season as well, the first time since his rookie year that he didn’t manage 100 receiving yards. While Trautman didn’t light the world on fire in his rookie year, he was on the field for 450 snaps compared to HIll’s 406, again his lowest since 2016, a season where Hill only played 9 games (and still surpassed his receiving numbers from this year).

2021 has two ways of going for Josh Hill at this point. With Jared Cook’s future being...uncertain, in New Orleans, the aforementioned Trautman is expected to move into the starting tight end role in 2021 and Hill can resume his slot as a primarily pass blocking back up tight end (let’s ignore that Hill’s 11 pressures given up were still the most in his career, despite his lessened role in the offense).

At the end of the day, at least we’ll have this touchdown against the Bucs.

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