OK, in all seriousness: I'd love some up-close insights on Taylor from a Bills fan who watched him in camp and the pre-season. People are jumping on you because you you didn't offer any analysis, just declared Taylor "a real quarterback" after a single game in which he passed for 195 yards against a defense that gave up an average of 245 yds/game in the air last year.
So how about we start over. What has Taylor shown you so far? What impresses you about him?
Ok, fair question, so I will answer this one. Usually I like posting over here, not sure why what I think are interesting reads about the most important player are getting ripped.
It is true that he has not played hardly at all in the NFL. No doubt the "legend" of Tyrod Taylor amongst Bills fans started with the talk from the myriad of players who played with him and coaches who coached him, who just cannot seem to say enough good things about the kid.
During pre-season and TC, all the QB's started off with difficulty against the Bills defense, Rex literally had to lighten up on the blitz packages to give them a chance to get their feet under them. So to be honest, we were all pretty worried early in TC. If you have three QB's youi have none adage applied.
However, when I visited St John Fisher, where the Bills do TC, I got to see TT in person. He carries himself with a great deal of confidence. While that is entirely anecdotal, word is the players and coaches were starting to notice what a command he had over the huddle and the ability he was showing to be a leader. In the pre-season games all three QB's played really well. EJ led the league in TD passes and yards, I think. But word out of One Bills Drive was that if Taylor did not start, there would be a mutiny, the players knew who the best guy was.
He threw very few interceptions through out all of TC and the first thing I noticed was his propensity to NOT turn the ball over.
As TC progressed it became apparent that the kid had a much bigger arm than people were giving him credit for. And why would they? At first blush, you are looking at a 6th rounder who never got to start because he played behind a QB who did not miss one game in his four years there. Interesting tidbit, he worked with his VT receivers for days before his pro-day, the morning of the pro-day he was told they could not work with him for eligibility reasons and he ended up having to throw to cornerbacks, that did not help his draft stock.
During pre-season and in the first game, he showed more of what he did during TC. Good accuracy and a strong arm. I will admit he did not look as comfortable in the pocket as a life long pocket passer, but it was obvious that Roman was making him buckle down on that and with each game he seemed to get more comfortable with it.
I think what has been the best surprise so far is how strong and accurate he has looked. If you watch the
"all the throws" link I posted, he really only mis-fired on one throw. He is also very aware in the pocket and limits bad plays when they happen. For example; he fumbled, grabbed it quickly and prevented a disaster. The ball was tipped in the air, he was on it and batted it to the ground. When he leaves the pocket to run, his head is on a swivel, he looks behind him as he breaks out to ensure no blind side swiping of the ball. These are not huge plays, but they are the little things that we as Bills fans have gotten used to over the years, **** mistakes by generally unaware QB play.
The kid can really run and is very aware in the pocket as I mentioned, he feels the pressure and it is hard to get hands on him. He also throws a nice ball on the run, really accurate.
He is a work in progress. He is a new starter. We need to see much more. But he did the things we hoped he would as well as you could possible hope in just one game.
This week is a monster test against the smartest guy in football.
