The Saints are faced with decisions to start the regular season. They can no longer rely on Drew Brees, who has retired from the league. The Saints have not named the starting quarterback for Week 1 of the regular season but after watching two preseason games, it seems likely that Winston will win the job. The competition is between Taysom Hill and Winston.
Many would say, including myself, that Hill is more of a runner and tight end than a quarterback, but he does have the ability to move the ball down the field as a quarterback. There’s a third preseason game to watch on Saturday and that could very well decide who gets the chance to lead the Saints as QB1. Winston shined on Monday Night Football, going 9-for-10 with 123 yards passing and two touchdowns. Winston’s touchdowns were both bombs down the field toMarquez Callaway and those throws opened plenty of eyes.
The reality is, Taysom Hill got the bulk of the game on Monday night, going 11-for-20 with one touchdown on 138 yards passing. Hill didn’t run at all in the game and was strictly a passer. That could mean a couple things. Of course, the first thing is that the Saints don’t want to risk injury. The other thing could be that the Saints (or Hill) are trying to transform Hill into a pocket passer.
I’ll go with health being the main cause for him not running at all in the game. Either way, Winston looked much better in the pocket, showed off his arm and was tremendous. Head coach Sean Payton already has said he hopes to name the starter before the final preseason game. Winston spoke about his performance on Monday night.
He was only given one quarter to shine, but boy did he shine. “I haven’t started a football game in so long, I was so excited to just get an opportunity to start and lead the pack, man,” said Winston after the game. “The rhythm was great, offensive line was phenomenal and we had guys like Quez making plays all night.
You gotta love that.” Winston added, “As we all know, we’ve got another game next week.” He’s got that next game mentality and isn’t saying he won the job just yet. He’s still competing and is in the right mindset. Winston has updated his resume through preseason and that could and should be more than enough to lead this team.
His connection with Callaway was tremendous and knowing Michael Thomas won’t be around to start the season, that connection could go a long way with Thomas out of the picture early. It just seems as though Winston and Callaway are on the same page. Both are putting maximum effort and saying the right things.
Hill can still be used in this offense for short gain plays and whatnot. That would add another dynamic to this offense. For now though, Winston should be the starting QB. He earned it and was really memed out of the league for one poor season where he threw 30 interceptions. He’s done surgery to correct these things. He wants to win and has that itch to get back on the field in meaningful football games. Winston should start Week 1 and there’s no questions about it.