As the fantasy football regular season winds down, we at ESPN Fantasy would like to alert you to a key positional eligibility change: Taysom Hill is no longer eligible at tight end and quarterback is now his primary position. Below, you will find answers to questions you might have with regard to how this impacts your fantasy team and/or league.
1. What is Hill’s eligibility going forward?
Beginning in Week 12, Hill is eligible at QB only.
2. Why the change now, and not last week?
Hill played the entire game at QB in Week 11 and is expected to continue in that role, at least primarily, until Drew Brees returns as the New Orleans Saints’ starting quarterback.
Early last week, ESPN Fantasy maintained it would not take away Hill’s primary position eligibility of tight end once the league week began on Tuesday. The reason for this was for fantasy managers to be given ample time to make necessary roster assessments and lineup decisions before waivers processed early Wednesday morning and in advance of the first game of the week Thursday.
Now that it has been established that Hill will be primarily a QB, and with the above framework in mind, ESPN Fantasy is able to make the change at the start of fantasy Week 12.
3. Will Hill’s eligibility change again this season?
Not likely. Based on what we know, the expectation is that Hill will remain eligible only at quarterback. Note that a player’s eligibility is always at the discretion of ESPN Fantasy, based on what’s best for the competitive balance of the game.
4. What if I leave Hill in a starting lineup spot other than QB going forward? Will I still get the points he scores?
• If Hill is left in the TE, Flex or WR/TE slot, users will be unable to make any roster or lineup moves until they remove him from that slot.
• If a user chooses to not remove him from that slot, the user will receive points for Hill’s performance. However, if your league deems that to be an unfair advantage, league managers (LMs) have the ability to move Hill out of the starting lineup for any team in their league.
• To do so, LMs should visit their league on the ESPN Fantasy website, select “LM Tools” from the sub-navigation and then select “Roster Moves” from the “Roster Tools” section. From there, the LM can choose to edit the roster of the team that rosters Hill, including the ability to drop Hill, if that is desired.
• If your league has roster minimums and maximums at QB and/or TE, it’s possible this change could invalidate your roster and you might be forced to make roster moves in order to field a valid roster.
5. What if my league doesn’t like these decisions? Is there anything the commissioner can do?
Yes, if you are in a private league, the commissioner can use the LM Tools to make changes that reflect your league’s desired structure.
Among the things that can be adjusted using LM Tools:
• The scoring of any matchup: To do so, the commissioner should visit his/her league on the ESPN Fantasy website and select “LM Tools” from the sub-navigation. Then, in the “League and Scoring Settings Tools” section, he/she can select “Adjust Scoring.” This will bring the LM to the league scoreboard page where he/she can select the week and the specific matchup he/she wants to adjust.
• Roster moves to alter starting lineups, within the constraints of positional eligibility: As explained in question No. 4, LMs should visit their league on the ESPN Fantasy website, select “LM Tools” from the sub-navigation and then select “Roster Moves” from the “Roster Tools” section. From there, the LM can choose to edit the roster of the team that rosters Hill, including the ability to drop Hill, if that is desired.
6. My league uses Team QBs and the Saints’ Team QB didn’t accrue points in Week 11. What gives?
Because Hill’s primary position was TE, his Week 11 statistics were not initially attributed to the Saints’ Team QB. Once his primary position was changed to QB, though, his statistics were retroactively applied for the Week 11 game, and you should see Saints Team QB fantasy points accurately reflected.
7. Why was Taysom Hill a TE in the first place?
In assessing Hill’s position in ESPN fantasy football for the 2020 season, a couple of factors were taken into account.
Hill’s primary role on offense was expected to come at positions other than QB, due to Brees being the Saints’ starting QB and the expectation that free-agent signing Jameis Winston would serve as the No. 2 option at the position. Secondly, based on 2019 snap data, Hill’s usage was most reflective of a tight end.
Overall, our goal at ESPN Fantasy is to provide fans as much flexibility as possible, while also having all players most accurately reflect their value and usage by their NFL team.
All positional eligibility decisions are at the discretion of ESPN Fantasy and are made in the best interest of fairness, taking many factors into account, including the amount of time fantasy managers have to make changes.
