Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill are slated to compete for the chance to be Drew Brees' successor for the New Orleans Saints, and by all accounts, the two will enter the battle on relatively level footing.
With that in mind, former NFL quarterback and current NBC analyst Chris Simms is in the process of releasing his annual quarterback countdown, and ranked the two Saints teammates back-to-back.
Perhaps to the surprise of some, Hill checked in higher, coming in at No. 24, as opposed to 25 for Winston. Here's a snippet of what Simms had to say about both quarterbacks:
Winston: "He's a hard guy to place. We know that his top-end play is special, and it is. But we know again that it's the old adage with Jameis Winston, the bottom-end play is really bad at times. Now, I don't expect that if he gets a chance to play with Sean Payton. I think he's gonna clean things up and hopefully he's learned from Drew Brees and his approach and all those things too. But he's a hard guy to get a feel for exactly where he is in this process right now because two years ago he played for the Bucs and we know he did some good things. But, he was really, really careless with the ball, almost that whole entire year. And still too many plays of 'Wait, you've played too long and too good in certain spots to make those plays.' So we'll see. Can Sean Payton beat that out of him a little bit? I would bet on yes, but I don't know that yet."
Hill: "Hey listen, it's tough, I understand that Taysom Hill is not your traditional quarterback. From the traditional quarterback standpoint, I would rank Jameis Winston in front of Taysom Hill. But the thing is, tradition is gone. Sorry, the NFL had changed. Quarterbacks don't just stand in the pocket and pick you apart anymore. There's more to it than that. And that's where Taysom Hill has to be evaluated less as a quarterback, but a little bit more like the guys who are in his mold of quarterback - a force, a force of nature. Yeah, it might not always be 70% picking you apart, but it's gonna be more about his skillset, what it brings to the offense and then the pressure he puts on the defense."
Hill - who will turn 31 in August - was used primarily as a jack-of-all trades during Brees' reign, but did get a chance to start four games in the future Hall of Famer's absence last year. In those games, Hill completed 72.7% of his passes, tossing four touchdowns to two interceptions. In those four games, the Saints went 3-1, with Hill also adding 209 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
Winston, the former No. 1 overall pick, attempted just 11 passes in his first regular season with the Saints. However, he's just two years removed from throwing for a league-leading 5,109 yards under Bruce Arians in Tampa Bay. The problem is that Winston also led the NFL with 30 interceptions, a driving force in the Bucs moving on from him after his rookie contract expired. Simms said he believes that Winston has top-10 quarterback talent, but it's a matter of whether he can limit his turnovers, something he was never able to do on a consistent basis in five years starting for the Buccaneers.
Considering Pro Football Focus ranked Brees just the 21st-best quarterback during his final season, the Saints could seemingly be a legitimate Super Bowl contender if either Winston or Hill emerges as an above-average option in 2021.
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