In Peter King's latest column, which is an interesting read primarily for its NFL Draft tidbits, he says he's been told that Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn is legitimately high on Tyrod Taylor as the team's starting quarterback. It's exactly what I'd want people to think if I was hoping to draft or trade up for a top prospect, but let's take him at his word for a moment.
Lynn didn't make the PR nightmare move of benching Philip Rivers for Taylor last year, and Taylor didn't last very long in Cleveland two years ago. But Lynn was an offensive assistant and then coordinator in Buffalo in 2015 and 2016, for two years of Taylor's three-year run as the Bills' starting quarterback. Taylor in three seasons went 8-6, 7-8 and 8-6 as Buffalo's quarterback, getting to them to the playoffs in the last of those seasons (where they lost at Jacksonville, which went on to narrowly lose to New England in the AFC Championship).
So Taylor had some modest success in Buffalo. And he was a viable fantasy quarterback, too.
In 46 starts over the last five seasons, Taylor averaged 20 fantasy points per game (1 point for every 10 rushing yards and 20 passing yards, with 4-point TD passes and 6-point TD runs). Key to his value is his rushing production; he's averaged 36 rushing yards per game. Among quarterbacks to start at least 25 games over that span, the only guy to run for more yards per game is Buffalo's other starting quarterback the last five years: Josh Allen.
QUARTERBACKS PER GAME, 2015-2019 (25-PLUS STARTS) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | St | PYd | TDP | RYd | TDR | Pts |
Josh Allen | 27 | 188.5 | 1.11 | 41.3 | .63 | 22.1 |
Tyrod Taylor | 46 | 199.2 | 1.13 | 36.1 | .30 | 20.0 |
Cam Newton | 63 | 232.0 | 1.59 | 35.5 | .40 | 24.0 |
Deshaun Watson | 37 | 259.8 | 1.89 | 32.9 | .41 | 26.4 |
Russell Wilson | 80 | 247.3 | 1.94 | 26.5 | .11 | 23.6 |
Blake Bortles | 60 | 245.0 | 1.53 | 22.2 | .15 | 21.7 |
Marcus Mariota | 61 | 214.5 | 1.25 | 22.1 | .20 | 19.2 |
Mitchell Trubisky | 41 | 208.6 | 1.17 | 21.0 | .17 | 18.5 |
Alex Smith | 56 | 235.9 | 1.27 | 20.6 | .16 | 20.0 |
Dak Prescott | 64 | 246.5 | 1.52 | 19.1 | .33 | 22.4 |
Aaron Rodgers | 71 | 258.7 | 1.94 | 18.2 | .11 | 23.5 |
Andrew Luck | 38 | 281.9 | 2.24 | 18.0 | .05 | 25.4 |
Jacoby Brissett | 32 | 196.8 | .97 | 17.5 | .28 | 17.2 |
Patrick Mahomes | 31 | 303.6 | 2.45 | 16.1 | .13 | 27.5 |
Ryan Fitzpatrick | 50 | 252.3 | 1.58 | 16.0 | .16 | 21.5 |
Jameis Winston | 70 | 277.0 | 1.69 | 14.5 | .14 | 23.2 |
Carson Wentz | 56 | 253.4 | 1.73 | 14.0 | .05 | 21.6 |
Ryan Tannehill | 50 | 235.6 | 1.64 | 12.6 | .14 | 20.6 |
Josh McCown | 27 | 240.6 | 1.33 | 9.8 | .22 | 19.9 |
Baker Mayfield | 29 | 253.5 | 1.69 | 9.4 | .10 | 21.1 |
Andy Dalton | 69 | 244.0 | 1.52 | 8.7 | .16 | 20.2 |
Matthew Stafford | 72 | 268.2 | 1.74 | 8.3 | .04 | 21.5 |
Brock Osweiler | 30 | 220.4 | 1.03 | 7.9 | .07 | 16.5 |
Sam Darnold | 26 | 226.5 | 1.38 | 7.7 | .12 | 18.6 |
Jay Cutler | 34 | 217.2 | 1.29 | 7.6 | .03 | 17.0 |
Matt Ryan | 79 | 291.4 | 1.77 | 7.5 | .06 | 22.9 |
Trevor Siemian | 25 | 221.6 | 1.12 | 7.0 | .04 | 16.6 |
Kirk Cousins | 79 | 266.8 | 1.73 | 6.4 | .19 | 22.2 |
Case Keenum | 52 | 227.8 | 1.19 | 5.8 | .08 | 17.2 |
Derek Carr | 78 | 250.3 | 1.56 | 5.2 | .04 | 19.7 |
Jimmy Garoppolo | 26 | 259.1 | 1.62 | 4.4 | .08 | 20.5 |
Jared Goff | 54 | 263.3 | 1.61 | 4.0 | .11 | 20.8 |
Ben Roethlisberger | 58 | 295.0 | 1.88 | 3.4 | .07 | 23.6 |
Joe Flacco | 59 | 246.4 | 1.19 | 3.4 | .10 | 18.3 |
Sam Bradford | 34 | 246.6 | 1.29 | 2.8 | .00 | 17.8 |
Tom Brady | 76 | 280.4 | 1.96 | 2.8 | .11 | 22.9 |
Carson Palmer | 38 | 286.4 | 1.84 | 1.9 | .03 | 22.1 |
Eli Manning | 67 | 257.8 | 1.60 | 1.6 | .03 | 19.7 |
Philip Rivers | 80 | 282.7 | 1.81 | 1.2 | .00 | 21.7 |
Drew Brees | 73 | 292.9 | 2.07 | .9 | .14 | 23.9 |
Personally, I expect the Chargers to draft a quarterback in the first round. If they do, that guy might well start right away, and Taylor will be a wasted pick. That's what happened to him in Cleveland in 2018. He opened as Cleveland's starter, but took a seat for Baker Mayfield just a few games into the season.
But let's see. Maybe the Chargers aren't enamored of any of the top prospects, or those guys will be gone before they pick at No. 6. If that's the case, it will probably be Taylor starting a majority of games for them this year. Could be legit fantasy value, especially considering how late he'll be selected in every league. Potentially 20 fantasy points per game from a late-round quarterback? Sounds pretty good.
--Andy Richardson