Alvin Kamara is right. The New Orleans Saints running back gave his teammate Taysom Hill a big shoutout after their Week 9 win over the Indianapolis Colts, crediting Hill for his rushing ability — coming off a game in which Hill gained 63 yards off of just 9 carries, with Kamara not far behind (59 yards on 17 attempts).
In his postgame press conference, Kamara said that Hill “is the equivalent of the ‘Tush Push’. You know what’s coming and you can’t stop it.”
Also called the “Brotherly Shove” for its popularity with the Philadelphia Eagles offense in recent years, the play is a modified quarterback sneak that allows teammates to push the quarterback forward while blockers open up space ahead of them. Going into Week 9, the Eagles have converted a first down on 17 of their 21 attempts with this play (81.%). The rest of the NFL has a success rate of 72.7%, going 40-for-55.
And that brings us to Hill, whose success rate as a runner clocks in at 71.1%. Like other quarterbacks around the league who can make plays with their legs, he forces the defense to guard all eleven players, often forcing a moment’s hesitation that can make a big difference. Defenders still misjudge Hill’s speed in the open field and he’s one of the Saints’ best big-play threats as a rusher. His 20-yard touchdown run against the Colts was the longest gain on the ground for the Saints this season. They call his number for good reason.
Now, we should acknowledge something before the nerds points it out for us: these are two different success rates. The “Tush Push” numbers are only considering first down conversions. For Hill, we’re using the formula from Pro Football Reference, which considers what percentage of the yards needed were gained per carry. It’s a little more complicated, but it’s also more comprehensive, and it still gets to Kamara’s point.
But if we only want to look at Hill’s first down conversions as a runner, here they are: he’s moved the sticks 15 times on 38 attempts this season (39.5%), which trails a real “Tush Push” success rate. That’s still a solid number. He’s converted the eighth-most rushing first downs among quarterbacks this season despite his limited role; he isn’t a starter like Jalen Hurts (35 first downs), Lamar Jackson (27), Russell Wilson (18), or other league leaders. As Kamara said, teams know where the ball is going when Hill has it in his hands. And they’re still failing to stop him.
