Browns’ Kevin Stefanski, Jim Schwartz reveal the challenge of defending Taysom Hill

Browns DC Jim Schwartz has equal respect for Taysom Hill

Also asked about Hill in the lead-up to Week 11 during his own media session, Schwartz compared how the Saints use their do-it-all tight end to Kyle Juszczyk in San Francisco, who is similarly effective at a number of different things offensively.

“He’s such a good player in all regards. He’s a really good special teams player. I’ve had games where he started at quarterback against us. I was in Philly, we played him, and he can run. I mean, he ran the whole offense. His threat as a runner, he can play running back, he can play tight end, he can play wide receiver. Multidimensional players like that make it a little bit hard to zero in on your game plan because you can’t just say, when he goes in the game, he’s a running back. We talked a little bit about Kubiak and Shanahan and some of that influence,” Schwartz told reporters.

“They’re using him a lot the way that San Fran uses (Kyle) Juszczyk. Yeah, 44 and getting him on the move. Those guys that blur the lines of, ‘Is that guy a fullback? Is he a running back? Is he a wide receiver? Is he a tight end?’ The answer is yes. That’s sort of the way with Taysom. I got a lot of respect for that player. He’s tough, he plays the game the way it should be played. He takes the first play last week and goes for a touchdown, it gets called back with a penalty. But that’s just an outstanding individual play. You can’t really put that guy in a box and say he’s just a specialty quarterback or he’s only a specialty tight end or whatever it is. I mean, don’t hand him the ball in short yardage, they’ll let him be the quarterback. We talked a lot about Kamara, but that’s a guy. And they missed him when he was injured, too. He’s missed some time with that chest injury. So, fortunately, we know he wears number seven.”

In six games of action for the Saints in 2024, Hill has run the ball 27 times for 130 yards and three touchdowns, caught ten passes for 100 yards, completed one pass for three yards, and even recorded a tackle for loss, forced a fumble, and safety in a fantastic play against the Chargers in Week 9. When Hill is on the field, teams really do have to know where number seven is at all times because he can impact a game from almost anywhere.