Tyrod Taylor is Here to Stay

Tyrod Taylor may be the blueprint for developing young quarterbacks from the bench. Throughout his pre-draft process in 2011, Taylor was barely considered a quarterback, as many felt he was better suited moving to wide receiver. The Baltimore Ravens took their chances on Taylor as an athletic backup behind Joe Flacco. Taylor got limited snaps here and there in Baltimore, but never quite enough to get a comfortable feel for his game. Upon his contract ending, Baltimore opted to let him go and sign with the Buffalo Bills, who were having a bit of a quarterback battle between Matt Cassel and EJ Manuel. The Bills signing of Taylor seemed to be little more than a third guy to push the other two into more heated competition. Little did they know, the Bills had signed their starting quarterback for the year.

To claim Taylor has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league this year would be lofty. Then again, he has played better than a good number of other NFL starting quarterbacks and has, at least, played himself into another season to show his full potential. Taylor has taken quite the opposite approach to the offense as was probably expected by many. With his athleticism, many presumed Buffalo’s offense would rely on heavily on option reads, deep passing and Taylor scrambling. While that is true to some degree, the offense is much less frantic and wild than it was sold to be.

In fact, Taylor has looked brilliant running Greg Roman’s offense. Roman likes to get Tyrod on the move or simplify his reads as much as possible, though this seems more to do with Tyrod being in a new system than him being inept. This does make the offense a bit easier for Taylor than a number of other quarterbacks get the luxury of, but nonetheless, he has been executing his assignments well all year and being aggressive when necessary. Roman runs a lot of quick-hitting concepts like drags, flat routes, curls and delayed running back check downs (which are more a testament to Taylor understanding his ‘hot’ reads). For the most part, Taylor is completing these throws on a regular basis and getting those easy yards that are there. Without these completions, the other aspects of Taylor’s game do little justice for him. Thankfully for the Bills, he does complete these throws, making his “big” plays even more meaningful.

Taylor is at his best when on the move or firing deep down the sideline. Roman’s offense does a lot of play action ‘slide’, where the quarterback will fake a handoff while in shotgun and ‘slide’ in the opposite direction of the running back. This gives Taylor a newer, clearer line of sight to the primary receiver. Of course, Roman also gets good use out of Taylor’s athleticism by moving him from the pocket entirely and letting him operate on the move. This works well not only because Taylor gains separation from the pocket quickly, but because he keeps his shoulders squared well when throwing on the move and is able to throw with the same throwing motion that he always does. Take, for example, this play below versus the Tennessee Titans.

Tyrod is lined up under center. He comes out of the snap to his right to fake a handoff, then flips his shoulders and sprints out to the left. On this play, Taylor gets a free release and has no pressure bearing down on him. He waits for his receiver to break his route off, then loads and fires for an easy first down completion. Simple, yes, but very well executed.

The play above versus the Miami Dolphins, on the other hand, was a bit more taxing on Taylor, though he still completes the pass. Taylor fakes a quick hand-off and sprints out to the strong side of the formation. As he gets to the widest part of his rollout, Miami defenders begin barreling down on him. Charles Clay’s deep crosser takes a while to get open, but he becomes a clear target just in time for Taylor. Taylor sees Clay in an open area and loads to throw the pass, getting the ball off just before he is taken out by a Miami defender. Taylor showed strength and composure to complete the pass under duress and on the move.

That sort of long-developing play action is a staple of the Buffalo offense. Roman likes attacking the sideline because it is where Taylor seems to feel most comfortable. That extends beyond these deep crossers and out-breaking routes, though. Taylor is a deep passing fiend. He loves to takes shots when the opportunities present themselves. On deep vertical routes, Taylor does a wonderful job of either completing the throw or overthrowing it to not allow the defensive back to get a piece of it. Seldom does Taylor botch a vertical throw by clearly under throwing it and leaving it up for the defense. More than anyone, Taylor likes feeding Sammy Watkins on deep throws.

Watkins already seems to have separated himself as one of the better vertical threats in the game. Part of this rise has been because he has had a perfect quarterback to maximize his ability to get open down the field. Whenever Taylor sees a ripe 1-on-1 opportunity on the boundary with Watkins, he attacks it and gives his guy a chance to go get the ball for an explosive play. Taylor also does a good job of finding Percy Harvin on these plays, though not at the same rate he connects with Watkins. As lethal as Taylor can be down the sideline, his work over the middle is worrisome.

The issue is less about Taylor’s ability to throw over the middle and more about his apparent hesitance, and possibly ignorance, toward the middle of the field. Taylor has a trigger issue when looking over the middle. This likely roots in him still wanting to be a bit more comfortable with being a full-time starter before he takes shots over the middle, but it is tough to learn other than trial by fire. Taylor is then stuck in a paradox where he is scared of what he can and can’t accomplish over the middle, but won’t test himself to find out. This may be elongated jitters because it is his first starting job since playing at Virginia Tech, but nonetheless, Taylor will struggle to truly separate himself from the average quarterback if he doesn’t development some sort of aggression over the middle.

In both of these examples, Tyrod wastes a play because he fails to understand where his receivers are over the middle and pull the trigger. The receiver moves into open space on both plays, but Tyrod is too hesitant or unaware to complete a throw to either of them. Had Tyrod simply been aware of where they were, he may have been able to fire off a pass. Alas, Tyrod was blind to the middle of the field.

Taylor runs into a similar issue here. This ball is still catchable, sure, but Taylor misses a wide open window in which the target, Charles Clay, had nobody near him as he crossed the field. By the time Taylor becomes aware of the opening, the defensive back has been able to come back and nearly make a play on the ball, and the safety’s presence is more than likely what got Clay to drop the pass.

Much like his ups and down as a passer, Taylor’s use of his athleticism and movement is a roller coaster as well. He has the explosiveness to evade sacks and create yardage on his own, but he also struggles to use the open areas of the pocket as well as he could. Taylor has moments where he wastes space in the pocket. Wasted space in the pocket often either turns into sacks or hurries. Even if Taylor stumbles out of a sack, he is then forced to make a pressured throw. While Taylor shows flashes of immediately moving into free space in the pocket, he needs to show more consistency in the area and avoid plays like the one below.

Taylor is to blame for this sack. The offensive linemen does not do the best job keeping Chandler Jones at bay, but Taylor moves into him. Instead of stepping to his right or up into the pocket, Taylor slides into the pass rusher. It is the subtleties of quarterbacking that separate the good from the great, and it would be difficult to claim that Taylor will learn to maneuver the pocket much better with more experience because it is such an instinctive trait. Of course, repetition will have some degree of effect over time, but assuming Taylor can truly develop this skill into a strength is asking a lot.

There may be a blueprint for developing quarterbacks on the bench in Taylor’s story. He was barely seen as a quarterback out of college, but was given a stable franchise to learn in and develop himself. Nothing was forced upon him and there was never pressure on him to be removed from the team. After four years of stability, Taylor has developed into a starting level quarterback, possibly with more room to grow in the next couple years. Even if he does not improve much more, the amount in which he has progressed already is more than most players ever develop in their careers.

The Buffalo Bills got lucky with Tyrod Taylor. They signed what they believed to be a third string quarterback who then became their starter. The Bills would be wise to hedge their bets and draft a quarterback with a mid-round pick pick, but if they can not, it is not the end of the world. The league lacks quarterbacks that can play at even an “average” level, and the Bills now have one who is at least “average”. Taylor is not going to obliterate teams on his own, but he has a place in this league as a respected quarterback.