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2015 Buffalo Bills Player Profile: Tyrod Taylor

By Tyler Olson

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May 26, 2015; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor (5) throws a pass during the organized team activities at the ADPRO Sports Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

There seems to be a lot of hype surrounding Tyrod Taylor this offseason and for good reason.

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The former Baltimore Ravens backup quarterback was picked up this year as a free agent by the Buffalo Bills after Baltimore chose to go with veteran quarterback Matt Schaub to hold down the fort behind Joe Flacco.  At the age of 25, Taylor has very little NFL experience but he’s ready to put his skill-set on showcase this Summer.

For Taylor, Buffalo was possibly the best-case scenario for him to have a chance at being a starting quarterback in the NFL.  At the end of the 2014 season the Bills had Kyle Orton (now retired), EJ Manuel and Jeff Tuel on the roster.  Everybody knew that the Buffalo front office would bring in competition to push Manuel to become the franchise quarterback personnel was hoping he’d be when they drafted him 16th overall in the 2013 NFL draft.

After losing Orton Buffalo didn’t waste any time working on which quarterbacks they wanted to bring in to fight with Manuel for the starting quarterback gig.  Before they brought in Taylor they went out and made a trade with the Minnesota Vikings for veteran quarterback Matt Cassel, a player who was beat out by rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater early last season.

Taylor is bringing to Buffalo, as I stated before, little NFL experience.  Drafted 180th overall in the 2011 NFL draft out of Virginia Tech University, Taylor has only thrown 35 passes in his four-year career.  Throughout the pass four years he’s only stepped onto the field 14 times including once in 2014 with only four rushing attempts on the season.

An issue with Taylor is that some think he has only one asset he can bring to an NFL organization: running ability.  As a Virginia Tech Hokie he was extremely successful on the ground running for over 2,000 yards and 23 touchdowns as a four-year starter.  As a passer, however, he didn’t see as much success although he certainly wasn’t bad; in four years leading the Hokie offense Taylor threw for over 7,000 yards, 44 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.


It’s Taylors’ mission this Summer to prove that he’s more just a agile quarterback that can master the read-option offensive scheme.  He wants to prove to coaches and teammates that he has the arm to make all the throws necessary for an NFL offense.

A number he’ll need to improve on to move himself up the depth chart and place the starting quarterback tag next to his name is his completion percentage.  In college he completed just 57.2% of his passes, and in the 35 passes he’s attempted at the NFL level he hit on just 19 of those for a completion percentage of 54.3%.

Taylor will get his shot this Summer but it doesn’t look as if it will be during OTAs.  In the first three practices, Cassel and Manuel have been taking reps with two separate first-team offenses.  His real shot at supplanting those two may have to wait until training camp comes.

The real shot for Taylor at getting on the field in 2015 would be in specific packages pieced together by new offensive coordinator Greg Roman.  Taylor does have a strong running ability.  Personally I can’t see Buffalo wasting his talent when it’s available.  Head coach Rex Ryan loves to do something crazy and Taylor gives him that option.

Prediction: Third String

Next: 2015 Player Profile: Matt Cassel

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