Every year during training camp and preseason, teams have the chance to identify a player that could easily become one of the biggest contributors that no one across the league is talking about. Typically for each team, there is atleast one player that shines and makes a run to make the roster, or even become a surprising starter.
Last season, that player for the Bills was wide receiver Tyrell Shavers. After failing to make the final 53-man roster in 2023 and 2024, Shavers impressed the coaching staff enough to earn a final roster spot which had fans relly excited.
Shavers ended up with just 245 yards and one touchdown, but he is a proven great run-blocking receiver who isn’t afraid of physicality. In the Wild Card round against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Shavers tore his ACL (which put him on the PUP list to start training camp), but he still managed to play in the game even after tearing it. If that isn’t toughness, I don’t know what is.
Tyrell Shavers wasn't the only notable training camp/preseason star Bills have had
During the Bills’ infamous 17-season playoff drought, the team could not get the quarterback position right no matter what avenue they took. It was a revolving door with guys like Kyle Orton, EJ Manuel, Trent Edwards, J.P. Losman, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Thad Lewis. It was a nightmare for Bills fans, until someone by the name of Tyrod Taylor stepped in and took the starting quarterback job away from EJ Manuel.
Alaina Getzenberg from ESPN recently listed Taylor as the Bills’ “best training camp/preseason riser” and it’s hard to disagree with that take.
"The options are plentiful when it comes to unexpected players shining for the Bills, but in terms of preseason risers, Taylor certainly stands out. In 2015, he beat out Matt Cassel and EJ Manuel for the starting job despite being the least experienced of the three. Taylor had a solid training camp performance, but it was three strong preseason games (completing 24 of 31 passes for 236 yards, with 11 carries for 108 yards and one rushing touchdown) that gave Taylor the edge." said Getzenberg.
"Taylor started 43 games over the next three seasons for the Bills, and he will go down in franchise history as part of the team that broke their historic playoff drought in 2017." Getzenberg added.
Tyrod Taylor helped change the culture in Buffalo (but only for one season)
Taylor had signed a three-year deal with the Bills after spending four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens as a backup to Joe Flacco. Him coming to Buffalo was actually the start of the franchise turning around. Taylor was named the starting quarterback of the team in 2015, and he kept the Bills competitive, but they still failed to make the playoffs.
Then in 2017, when Sean McDermott replaced Rex Ryan as the head coach, everything turned around for the better of the team. The Bills, led by Taylor, managed to clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 1999 and they went on the road to almost beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, but they ended up losing 10-3 in a defensive battle.
Even though Taylor will always be known as the quarterback who helped end the Bills’ long drought, the Bills moved on from Taylor by trading him to the Cleveland Browns for extra draft capital that helped them land Josh Allen, and Bills fans would definitely say that Buffalo made the right decision doing that.
Even though it took Taylor three years to help the Bills reach the playoffs, and he only ended up playing in one playoff game there, fans can never ignore the impact that he made for the team and organization. Who knows what the future outcome of the team would have been if Taylor was never named the starter.
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