Buffalo Bills’ starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor will likely reach two career milestones at some point this season. Start the countdowns.
Tyrod Taylor will have a lot to prove this season with the Buffalo Bills, entering his third year with the team. There’s no doubt he has been the Bills’ best quarterback for nearly 20 years, but unfortunately it hasn’t been enough to get them into the playoffs.
Ultimately, the front office and fanbase want a quarterback that can win now and end the dreadful 17-year playoff drought.
When this offseason began, it was unknown whether Tyrod Taylor would even suit up for the Buffalo Bills. His contract situation was one of the many problems this team faced when the season ended. Luckily, both sides were able to come to an agreement.
Looking at how the rest of the offseason has turned out so far, I firmly believe it was an agreement pushed forth by Sean McDermott.
Taylor will have a lot of motivation to do well this year, especially since the team is preparing to part ways with him if things don’t go as planned. At the very least, Taylor will have a couple of milestones to reach for by the end of 2017.
The first career milestone he is approaching is the 10,000-yard mark. Ironically, it’s a milestone that teammate LeSean McCoy will likely reach this year as well. Currently, Taylor has 6,257 yards passing in his career. 199 of those yards came in his four years with the Baltimore Ravens, but the rest came as a starter for the Buffalo Bills.
The second career milestone he is approaching is the 50 touchdown mark. Currently sitting at 37, he is sure to get at least 13 this season.
In his career, Taylor has played in 43 games, but only 29 of those came in Buffalo as a starter. With that being said, let’s look at other NFL quarterbacks with a similar amount of starts and compare his numbers.
We will look at the following players: Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota and Teddy Bridgewater.
Winston has played in 32 games and has already reached the 50-touchdown mark — right on the dot, in fact. He has matched that with 8,132 yards, which is close to 2,000 more than Taylor. Mariota has played in 27 games and has totaled 6,244 yards and 45 touchdowns. Bridgewater has played in 29 games and has 6,150 yards and 28 touchdowns.
All four of these quarterbacks — including Taylor — will likely reach both the 10,000-yard mark and the 50-touchdown mark this season.
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Taylor will enter the 2017 season as the starter, but will have a veteran backup and two young prospects working for a spot behind him. T.J. Yates likely won’t see any playing time, but Cardale Jones and Nathan Peterman will be hungry to play.
In addition to that, the Buffalo Bills currently have two first-round draft picks next season in a draft that is supposed to have a better QB class than this year. With all of that being said, Tyrod Taylor will be on thin ice this season and will need to perform well to keep his spot on the team.
Let me rephrase that. Taylor will need to bring this team to the playoffs if he wants to keep his spot on the team. If he fails to do so, the team will likely look to a younger quarterback to grow with.
I sincerely hope everything works out with Tyrod Taylor. As a fan, I want nothing more than for the Buffalo Bills to find the quarterback that can lead them to a playoffs — at least for a couple more years before giving the job to a younger player.
We’ll be counting down the yards and touchdowns needed to reach his two milestones. Good luck, T-Mobile!
Next: Bills continue to sign valuable depth through free agency
Do you think Tyrod Taylor will reach both milestones this season? Leave your thoughts below!