FAYETTEVILLE, AR – NOVEMBER 9: Tommy Stevens #7 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs throws a pass during a game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Davis Wade Stadium on November 16, 2019 in Starkville, Mississippi. The Crimson Tide defeated the Bulldogs 38-7. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
The Carolina Panthers saw a Taysom Hill clone in Tommy Stevens, but they’ve released him before mandatory minicamp.
Drafted by the New Orleans Saints of the 2020 draft, Tommy Stevens eventually landed on the Carolina Panthers practice squad last season and he saw action in Week 17 (four carries). The Panthers kept him around, but on Tuesday they released him.
An athletic dual threat quarterback in college at Mississippi State, Stevens drew some convenient comparisons to Saints quarterback/tight end/gadget guy Taysom Hill heading into the 2020 draft. So it’s interesting that New Orleans drafted him. Sean Payton later acknowledged they traded back up into the draft strictly to keep the Panthers from signing him as an undrafted free agent. Stevens apparently had a deal all but done with Carolina before the Saints drafted him.
Seems like a lot of work done by New Orleans to keep a bottom-of-the-roster player away from a division rival, and one the Saints didn’t even keep past final cuts last year.
Panthers also see Tommy Stevens as a Taysom Hill clone
Despite being listed as a quarterback, Stevens was working with the tight ends at Panthers’ OTAs. ESPN’s David Newton pointed to how they see him as a Taysom Hill type.
Teams churn the back end of their rosters during OTAs and minicamps, and in between in this case, so the Panthers may wind up bringing Stevens back as part of their 90-man roster. He may even land back on their practice squad this year when it’s all said and done. Assuming another team isn’t enamored with him enough to sign him.
Hill has not proven to be a starting-caliber quarterback thus far in his career, which isn’t to say he can’t have value in a certain niche. It’s just funny how two teams see grains of Hill in Stevens, as if that’s some great thing and a difference-making player.