Taysom Hill does it all for Saints

The New Orleans Saints had plenty of name-brand value in fantasy football draft season. Maybe you went for Alvin Kamara, or talked yourself into a Michael Thomas comeback. Perhaps you were intrigued by rookie wideout Chris Olave, or imagined a fun season from YOLO Jameis Winston.

Well, we’re in Week 5. And leave it to old Taysom Hill to once again break the game.

Hill was the star in Sunday’s 39-32 victory over Seattle, and he did it on a modest amount of opportunities. Hill ran for 112 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries, including a 60-yard jaunt, and his one pass was a 22-yard scoring strike to Adam Trautman. That’s four touchdowns — and 34 fantasy points — while handling the ball just 10 times.

If you wanted to deploy Hill this week in Yahoo, you had dealer’s choice. He’s easily the top tight end of the week, and only Josh Allen outscored him among quarterbacks ahead of the Sunday night and Monday night matchups. Your roster construction breaks the tie. Dual-position eligibility is a lovely thing.

Fantasy managers need to get over Hill’s limited snap counts every week. When the Saints have him on the field, the odds are extremely high that Hill will be involved in the play. And Hill gets a high amount of goal-line work — he’s clearly the team’s most explosive runner from short yardage. He’s like a baseball hitter who does all of his work at Coors Field, and with the bases loaded. A little Hill usage goes a long way.

And perhaps Hill’s workload will rise, anyway. The wonderful Olave left Sunday’s game with a concussion, and we don’t know when Thomas will be ready to return. And it’s not like Winston or Andy Dalton are salting away the quarterback position, either. Hill probably isn’t seen as a full-time quarterback, but desperation can push teams into interesting spots. And he’s making so many splash plays, the Saints can’t ignore the potential moving forward.

We’ll be talking more on Hill all week, because he’s rostered in just 29 percent of Yahoo leagues. I don’t see a bad matchup on the horizon — the Saints draw Cincinnati, Arizona, Las Vegas, and Baltimore over the next four weeks.

Story continues

Before we close the book on this game, let’s appreciate the Seattle side of things. Maybe the Seahawks can surpass even the Lions as the NFL’s most reliable carnival. Detroit, after all, was shut down and shut out at New England. Meanwhile, the Seahawks moved the ball easily at New Orleans and offered little resistance to the Saints offense.

Geno Smith is having a heck of a renaissance season — he tossed for 268 yards and three more touchdowns on just 25 attempts. He was sacked three times, but he didn’t have a turnover.

And when Smith looks downfield, he targets the players we like. Tyler Lockett (5-104-2) was one of the biggest steals of draft season, and DK Metcalf (5-88-1) is also returning a profit on his summer ADP.

Seattle will need rookie Kenneth Walker III to step forward, as Rashaad Penny reportedly fractured his tibia Sunday. Walker had a 69-yard touchdown run late in Sunday’s game, though his other seven carries netted just 19 yards. Given the lack of depth in this backfield — DeeJay Dallas and Travis Homer (currently on IR) are specialty players at best — Walker, rostered in 44% of leagues, could be looking at an every-down workload.

Seattle’s carnival faces off against the Cardinals and Chargers in the next two weeks. Get your popcorn ready.

Editor’s note: More Week 5 analysis to come