(Photo from www.fanduel.com)
As the Bills were staring down the face of a large potential problem at QB, they decided it was time to take action. Former first round pick from Florida State E.J Manuel just wasn’t progressing as they’d hoped and Matt Cassel wasn’t getting any younger. That’s when the Bills decided to take action. They subsequently signed Tyrod Taylor to a 3 year $3.35 million contract, which turned out to be one of the biggest steals in NFL history.
Taylor easily beat out Cassel and Manuel for the starting QB job after the pre-season and was named the starter for
the up-coming season. As Taylor entered the NFL by way of the 6th round, he spent four years at #2 on the depth chart behind Joe Flacco growing and getting acclimated to the NFL game. In his first season as a starter for Buffalo, Taylor exploded on the scene and finished the year with a more than solid stat line which included 14 starts, 3,000+ yards, 20 TD’s, 6 INT’s, as well as 568 rushing yards, and 4 rushing touchdowns. He also allowed the rushing attack to become explosive with the threat of being a read-option QB allowing LeSean McCoy and Karlos Williams to become one of the best tandems in the league.
What makes Taylor such an effective option at QB is his ability to run around and extend plays. He’s arguably the most explosive and elusive QB we’ve seen since the great Michael Vick who practically revolutionized the position. His football IQ, vision, deep ball accuracy, and ability to read the the defensive line are all major pluses in Taylor’s game. His ability to throw the deep ball to elite weapon Sammy Watkins was a troubling factor for all the defenses the Bills played in the second half of the season. Upon completion of a great season, Taylor was name a Pro Bowl replacement for Cam Newton. He set multiple Buffalo Bills records last season:
- Highest Completion percentage in single game (91.7%)
- Most rushing yards by Bills quarterback in single game (79)
- Most rushing yards by Bills quarterback in single season (568)
- Most consecutive pass attempts without an interception in Bills history (222)
And he also has two NFL records:
- Fifth quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least 100 yards, run for at least 70 yards and catch a pass in a single game
- Third quarterback in NFL history to average more than 40 yards rushing per game and have a QB rating of 99
On this play, Taylor takes a shotgun snap, reverses a couple steps as the pocket collapses, and he re-gathers his feet to fire a deep bomb to his receiver who makes an easy catch for a 40 yard touchdown.
In this video, Taylor once again received the snap in the shotgun where he calmly remains in the pocket and lets the pass rip to running back Karlos Williams for a 26 yard touchdown right in the middle of the defense.
(Video from www.highlighthub.com)
Here is the final video where Taylor shows his athleticism. On this play Taylor was still a Raven, and once he runs the play action roll out he breaks Justin Houston’s ankles and goes on a run for the end-zone.
(Video from www.imgur.com)
Overall, Tyrod Taylor offers the complete package at QB and has given the Bills offense a new weapon to build around. The man they call “Tygod” has proven he is cut out for this league and now needs to prove he can perform at a good to great level for years to come. Consistency is about the only thing left for Tyrod Taylor to achieve before he can be considered one of the upper-echelon Quarterbacks.