Will BYU's Hill ever pass on choice to run?


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PROVO — Here we go again — as BYU starts spring football practice — with another round of pledges that Taysom Hill will become a more accomplished passer and won’t rely as much on his dynamic running ability.

What’s that old saying, fool me once, shame on you? You know the ending.

As one of the greatest running quarterbacks ever, therein lies the problem for Hill. Such quarterbacks often become an endangered species, as evidenced by Hill’s season-ending injury last season.

Next season, we’re told, Hill will be smarter.

“We still got to let him kind of play his game,” said BYU quarterbacks coach Jason Beck. “He’s obviously very dynamic as a runner and as an athlete so we still got to let him do some of those things. But at the same time, we just want him to continue to improve as a player and as a passer, and as we do that it will kind of limit the number of runs he needs to take.”

In this case, seeing his believing.

Since he first touched a football, Hill most often has been the best athlete on the field. And he’s always been able to run past and by anything or anyone that stood in his way.


We still got to let him kind of play his game. He's obviously very dynamic as a runner and as an athlete so we still got to let him do some of those things. But at the same time, we just want him to continue to improve as a player and as a passer, and as we do that it will kind of limit the number of runs he needs to take.

–Jason Beck


The problem is, at the college level, Hill has become injury-prone. All around the game, as we saw with Utah State and Utah last season, playing the position of quarterback is a risky proposition with regard to serious injury.

The broken leg Hill suffered against Utah State last October derailed BYU’s season. As green as they were last year behind Hill, the Cougars will have even less experience at quarterback this season.

With this season’s schedule expected to be much tougher than 2014, BYU could struggle to achieve a winning record without a healthy Hill. BYU was undefeated in four games with a healthy Hill last year and didn’t win again until the schedule got soft.

The time has come to toss out all those designed runs.

“The number of situations we put him for called QB runs will lessen. It lessened from his sophomore year to the beginning of his junior year,” Beck said.

“As he grows as a passer and as he gets better in the pocket then he’s going to throw the ball more on first, second and third progressions instead of passing those up to take off running. Just as he grows, it will take the need for him to run off the table.”

The number of called runs for Hill may have declined over the last two seasons, but his overall rushing attempts have not.

In 2013, the only one of three seasons he has played in every game, Hill rushed for a team-leading 1,344 yards on 246 carries for an average of 18.9 rushes a game. In 4 1/2 games last season, Hill rushed for 406 yards on 87 attempts for an average of 19.3 rushes per game.

He had more pass attempts than carries in only one game last season. In a close games he’s taking off down the field.

“It’s one of those things sometimes your greatest strength is your weakness-type of situations,” Beck said. “He’s so dynamic as a runner that he’s always able to fall back on that and perform that way. As he continues to grow as a passer in his ability then he’ll be able to rely on his running a little less.”

Going into his senior season, for the sake of the team and BYU fans’ sanity, Hill has got take on the mindset of running as a last resort. Without proving he can throw well from the pocket, at least if he wants to play quarterback in the NFL, he could be another former BYU jock selling medical supplies and equipment in Utah County.

“He’ll be able to be an elite passer,” Beck said. “People saw that through the spring last year and the growth that took place and through the beginning of the season, and they’ll continue to see that as we go through this spring and this next season. He can be a very good passer, and it just happens that he’s also a very good runner.”

Let’s hope so.

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