Tyrod Taylor is one of the most polarizing figures in Western New York. Bills fans have suffered through 16 straight seasons of missing the playoffs, and after a poor performance against Miami, the drought may continue. I've personally heard a lot of chatter about Tyrod being a "game manager" and not the "franchise quarterback" that the Bills need. Both of these terms are ideas that barely exist in today's NFL.
"He's Not a Franchise Quarterback"
How many franchise quarterback's are there in the NFL? Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger, Cam Newton, Drew Brees are the players that come to mind for me. The rest of the NFL has quarterbacks that are middle of the road, or just too young to tell. Sure one day Jameis Winston, Carson Wentz or Derek Carr could be the next big thing, but there are so many factors that can go wrong. The Dolphins have wasted 5 years trying to figure out if Ryan Tannehill is the answer. Just look at some of the QB's who have either won or at least started in a Super Bowl since the Bills last made the playoffs: Joe Flacco, Colin Kaepernick, Eli Manning, Rex Grossman, Brad Johnson, Matt Hasselbeck, Jake Delhomme and Trent Dilfer. While some could argue that Flacco and Eli are franchise players, the rest of these quarterbacks are pretty iffy. With a great team around a quarterback, there is no reason an average QB can win in the NFL.
"He Runs Too Much"
Tyrod was 2nd to only Cam Newton in quarterback rushing last season. Through the first 7 weeks, he is the leader for 2016. Tyrod is one of the few dual threat QB's in the NFL and it can really open up the ground and play action game. Before injuring his hamstring, LeSean McCoy was having his best season since 2013. McCoy had a lot of success early on in his career with defenses also worrying about Michael Vick as a runner. Let's not forget about Tyrod's ability as a scrambling quarterback either. Aaron Rodgers has made a career on his ability to get receivers open through scrambling, avoiding sacks, and Tyrod has shown the ability to do the same.
"He Can't Throw to Save his Life"
This is the most ridiculous argument against Tyrod Taylor. Since taking over a the starting QB for the Bills, Tyrod has completed 62.6 percent of his passes with 29 TD's and 8 INT's. While these are not eye-popping statistics, he has shown that he is efficient and does not turn the ball over. What has been most impressive is his ability to throw the deep ball. Last season, Tyrod really developed a good chemistry with Sammy Watkins on deep passes, and this year has connected on beautiful throws to Greg Salas and Marquise Goodwin. If there is anything the Bills could improve upon, its incorporating more of these deep passes into the gameplan.
"He has all the weapons in the world"
Sammy Watkins. LeSean McCoy. Charles Clay. Robert Woods. Percy Harvin. While all of those players are very talented, at some point each one has been injured. This game against Miami showed that Tyrod can make plays without much talent around him. Keep in mind the Bills are currently without 3 of their top 4 receivers from last year. While Chris Hogan left in free agency, Woods and Watkins in particular have battled injury issues. The fact that the Bills were even in contention during the Miami is incredible. The offensive line had a terrible time with Miami's front 4 and RT Jordan Mills was absolutely awful. Mills allowed 4 quarterback pressures and 2 sacks. The line couldn't create any space for the run game, and gave Tyrod was pressured right from the 1st quarter. Combine that with missing some his his key weapons and a defense that let up 200 yards to Jay Ajayi, I give a lot of credit to Tyrod for how well he played.
I don't know if Tyrod Taylor is the answer for the Buffalo Bills. However, Jim Kelly isn't lacing up his cleats again and running the K-gun any time soon. The Bills have been stuck in football limbo for 16 years, and Tyrod is the best option we've had in a long time. The biggest problem the Bills have had is that they have only bottomed out twice during the playoff drought. The Bills took T Mike Williams 4th overall back in 2002 in a horrible QB draft (David Carr, Joey Harrington, Patrick Ramsey), and Marcell Darues 3rd in 2011 correctly taking him over QB's such as Jake Locker and Blaine Gabbert. Bills fans need to stop focusing on finding a "franchise quarterback" and start focusing on getting a good quarterback a complete team to win with. This team is right at the cap and still has holes, High draft picks like Watkins, Dareus, Shaq Lawson, and Reggie Ragland have already missed a lot of valuable playing time. You cannot win in the NFL with just one good quarterback, Andrew Luck and the Colts have proven this,
There are 54 players that suit up every sunday for a reason, and Bills fans are kidding themselves if they think that a QB better than Tyrod is walking through that door. Free agency is not an option at this point, and the Bills will never have an opportunity for a top 5 pick for a shot at one of the best QB prospects. Tyrod will be our QB for at least another year or two. It's time to realize that he does have flaws, but he can make plays for this team.
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