Factoid

February 15, 2018

Whither Tyrod Taylor?

Taylor might be looking for a new team

The Bills likely will release Tyrod Taylor. The other option is to keep him and pay him $18 million for the upcoming season, and they’d probably prefer to spend that money in other areas. They apparently have reservations about Taylor’s upside – after all, they started rookie Nathan Peterman ahead of him in a game against the Chargers last year.

But Taylor isn’t chopped liver. He’s a starting-caliber quarterback, and I’ll have considerable interest to see where he winds up.

Taylor isn’t perfect. I’m not sure that he’ll ever develop into one of the league’s top 10 quarterbacks (or even top 15). But he does some things well, and when he’s on his game, he can cause big problems for some defenses.

Taylor has shown an ability to be careful with the ball. Not forcing ill-advised balls, he tends to be one of the best at avoiding interceptions.

Over the last three years, 35 other quarterbacks have attempted at least 500 pass attempts. Only two -- Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers – in that span have thrown a higher ratio of touchdowns vs. interceptions. The next three quarterbacks on that list have all among the better players at the position – Alex Smith, Russell Wilson and Drew Brees.

TD-Int ratio (2015-2017)
Player	Pct	TD	Int	Ratio
Tom Brady	65.9%	96	17	5.65
Aaron Rodgers	63.5%	87	21	4.14
Tyrod Taylor	62.6%	51	16	3.19
Alex Smith	66.7%	61	20	3.05
Russell Wilson	64.5%	89	30	2.97
Drew Brees	70.0%	92	34	2.71
Dak Prescott	65.2%	45	17	2.65
Brian Hoyer	61.7%	29	11	2.64
Matthew Stafford	66.1%	85	33	2.58
Derek Carr	62.5%	82	32	2.56
Andy Dalton	63.4%	68	27	2.52
Colin Kaepernick	59.1%	22	9	2.44
Jared Goff	59.8%	33	14	2.36
Carson Wentz	61.5%	49	21	2.33
Matt Ryan	66.9%	79	35	2.26
Kirk Cousins	67.0%	81	36	2.25
Sam Bradford	68.6%	42	19	2.21
Carson Palmer	62.1%	70	32	2.19
Philip Rivers	63.2%	90	44	2.05
Cam Newton	57.2%	76	40	1.90
Josh McCown	63.6%	36	19	1.89
Eli Manning	62.5%	80	43	1.86
Jacoby Brissett	59.2%	13	7	1.86
Case Keenum	64.3%	35	19	1.84
Andrew Luck	60.6%	46	25	1.84
Ben Roethlisberger	65.4%	78	43	1.81
Ryan Tannehill	64.0%	43	24	1.79
Marcus Mariota	61.8%	58	34	1.71
Blake Bortles	59.2%	79	47	1.68
Jameis Winston	60.8%	69	44	1.57
Jay Cutler	62.7%	44	30	1.47
Ryan Fitzpatrick	58.4%	50	35	1.43
Joe Flacco	64.5%	52	40	1.30
Trevor Siemian	59.3%	30	24	1.25
Brock Osweiler	59.2%	30	27	1.11
Blaine Gabbert	59.4%	21	19	1.11

Taylor, I think, also throws one of the best deep balls. I will not pull out stats and try to prove that with numbers, but I believe it to be the case. Get a guy open deep, and I think Taylor is one of the best at connecting on those throws.

I also like his mobility. He’s elusive and fast, with the ability to pop outside on bootlegs and designed runs. Over the last three years, only Cam Newton has put up better rushing numbers. That’s a dimension that can be worked into an offense.

QB WITH 200 RUSHING YARDS (2015-17)
Player	Att	Yards	Avg	TD
Cam Newton	361	1,749	4.84	21
Tyrod Taylor	283	1,575	5.57	14
Russell Wilson	270	1,398	5.18	6
Blake Bortles	167	991	5.93	8
Alex Smith	192	987	5.14	8
Marcus Mariota	154	913	5.93	9
Aaron Rodgers	149	839	5.63	5
Colin Kaepernick	114	724	6.35	3
Dak Prescott	114	639	5.61	12
Andrew Luck	97	537	5.54	2
Jameis Winston	139	510	3.67	8
Ryan Fitzpatrick	108	478	4.43	2
Matthew Stafford	110	464	4.22	3
Carson Wentz	110	449	4.08	2
Blaine Gabbert	94	440	4.68	3
Andy Dalton	141	425	3.01	7
DeShone Kizer	77	419	5.44	5
Jacoby Brissett	79	343	4.34	5
Kirk Cousins	109	323	2.96	13
Matt Ryan	104	323	3.11	0
Ryan Tannehill	71	305	4.30	2
Derek Carr	95	274	2.88	0
Deshaun Watson	36	269	7.47	2
Brett Hundley	39	268	6.87	2
Jay Cutler	62	257	4.15	1
Brock Osweiler	65	256	3.94	4
Mitchell Trubisky	41	248	6.05	2
Josh McCown	64	243	3.80	6
Johnny Manziel	37	230	6.22	0
Case Keenum	72	216	3.00	2

It’s early. The Bills haven’t even released him yet. But I will be very interested to see where Taylor winds up playing. He could be a bridge quarterback for a team hoping to develop a young quarterback. Or maybe a team simply decides to make him their guy. The Ravens, Jaguars and Broncos all come to mind as clubs that would have been a lot more compelling last year with Taylor behind center. The Jets, Browns and Cardinals need quarterbacks.

—Ian Allan

Tyrod Taylor

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