Aaron Glenn is debating whether to change quarterbacks from Justin Fields to Tyrod Taylor. I guess there are some fantasy implications, but really it doesn't matter a whole lot.
There's a sizable body of work that says Fields just can't play; that he's valuable for his running potential, but his limitations as a passer will ultimately end in him getting yanked. With Taylor, there's more of a history of success passing the ball, but he's struggled with injuries (not that I'm blaming him for a sideline doctor puncturing his lung way back when), and it also makes zero sense for a winless team already playing out the string to be starting a 36-year-old quarterback.
Looking at just the more recent numbers, I pulled Taylor's last five NFL starts (one for the Jets, four for the Giants) and compared them to Fields' five full games as Jets starter this year. I just looked at passing -- we're all aware Fields is a prolific runner.
Not much good to see here. Sorting the game logs by passing yards, Taylor has three of the four best games in that regard. He also has two of the three with multiple touchdown passes. And of course, he has the only two wins. Fields naturally has two of three taking 5-plus sacks, although Taylor hasn't covered himself in glory either (he has three games taking 4-plus).
| TAYLOR VERSUS FIELDS, LAST 5 GAMES FOR EACH | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Opp | Result | Yds | TD | Int | Sk | Fmb |
| Taylor | LAR | L, 25-26 | 319 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| Taylor | Phi. | W, 27-10 | 297 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Fields | Dal. | L, 22-37 | 283 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Taylor | Was. | W, 14-7 | 279 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Fields | at Mia. | L, 21-27 | 226 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Fields | Pit. | L, 32-34 | 218 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Taylor | at Buf. | L, 9-14 | 200 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Taylor | at T.B. | L, 27-29 | 197 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Fields | Den. | L, 11-13 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Fields | Buf. | L, 10-30 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
It might not much matter what Glenn does. (Glenn himself probably won't be employed by the Jets as long as either quarterback.) The fantasy benefit of switching to Taylor now is at least you could be comfortable he might finish a game he starts without being benched. That's not the case at the moment with Fields.
New York is at Cincinnati this week. Fans of streaming defenses, it's fair to consider the Bengals as a better than average option for sacks and takeaways. Survivor Poll fans can consider the Bengals, too.
--Andy Richardson
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