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As we enter the “home stretch” of Pats week, we’re almost at the half-way point for Tyrod in starts. Because of injury (and technically the over-creativity of his offensive coordinator) Tyrod is at 6 official starts; however, for our purposes I’m going to count the Indy game as a start. With a minimum of 100 attempts as my line of demarcation, here’s where he sits courtesy the fine folks at Pro Football Reference:
- 1st in completion percentage (70.5%);
- 3rd in passer rating (106.2), behind Carson Palmer (108.0) and Tom Brady (111.1);
- 5th in yards per attempt (8.16), behind Andy Dalton (8.19), Tom Brady (8.22), Carson Palmer (8.93) and Ben Roethlisberger (8.94);
- 4th in rushing yards (243), behind Colin Kaepernick (256), Russell Wilson (355) and Cam Newton (366)
So how does Tyrod stack up historically? I searched for QBs that were 1st-5th year starters like Taylor that in just played in 7 games as a starter, had a pass completion percentage over 60% and more than 75 yards rushing. Seven other players (see there’s that number again) have had similar stats. I picked that number because I wanted to see where he was, should we only have 7 games to work with in an evaluation of his season, heretofore known as the Manuel conundrum. After we cover the players below, next week I’m also going to compare Tyrod to the first seven starts of current post 2004 draftees starting currently in the NFL.
Elephant in the Room
Let’s talk Hall of Fame. Montana’s beginning as a a starter was ignominious (2-5) but obviously he righted that ship. I don’t think I need to bold this, but here goes – by no means am I saying that Tyrod Taylor is a HOF in training. This isn’t a piece designed to say he’ll flop or that he’ll soar – it’s just a great opportunity to take a step back and say, “hey, he’s not bad is he?”
Buffalo two-fer:
Well look who showed up – J.P. and Trent. Comparing Tyrod to both of them at their height, when all the hopes and dreams of the fan base were focused on them is a good analysis opportunity. JP in particular matched up well, as he was in the rookie starter “let the defense/run game” formula to a ‘T’. JP’s biggest issue was the untimely mistake – Tyrod has been efficient and has for the most part avoided those sorts of disastrous play.
Mirror, Mirror:
When I started researching for this article, I went in blind. When I saw Kaepernick come up in the comparisons, it made sense – Roman’s system has been very good for both players. It’s also interesting because during the 2012 season Kaepernick was given the “relief” package/role until Alex Smith’s injury, which accounts for the difference in yardage between the two.
The more I looked at Kaep’s stats, the more I also wondered how Tyrod would react should Roman leave for a head coaching gig in 2016. Would he regress? Would he continue to develop? That bears watching.
Celino and Barnes Memorial QBs:
Jake Locker and RGIII are two examples of going beyond “full EJ” and into the C and B Memorial – showing a quarterback that has the world at his fingers talent wise, but injuries derail their careers completely. In the case of Griffin, the story could still be told; Locker’s retirement has put the firm period on his career. Tyrod will be entering his eighth game on Monday, so hopefully he will be able to avoid the injury bug re-entering his life, but should he get hurt that would go a long way to pushing him toward this group.
Ultimately, Tyrod Taylor has an opportunity to become the franchise quarterback Buffalo has desperately yearned for, but for now the focus should be on if he can be the best starter for 2016. Then 2017 and so on. Eventually he will bear himself out for whatever he is. We’re past the 3-4 game “tape” coaches have on a player, so he’s proven he’s not a one-hit wonder. Now the question is will he progress more than the most similar QB on the list, Kaepernick or will he also fall off the cliff should Roman leave? That is the 20,000,000 dollar (a year) question.
PS, A Final Note:
Right when I think I’m out, Joe pulls me back in.
Forgive this mini rant, but I just couldn’t let it go…
I read today that Kevin Gilbride thinks that Tyrod Taylor is more “athlete than passer” in an article by Mr. Sullivan and I almost took the bait. Mind you, that Gilbride submission was several paragraphs deep into Sullivan’s article, which at times echoes some of the findings I’m throwing out for you all now. However, the tone and the tenor of our approach couldn’t be more different. I think that Taylor is a work in progress that is trending up. Sully’s selling the idea that Tyrod’s a mirage, but truly Sully’s article is the mirage. Was he attempting to say that Taylor needs to get the last game out of his head? Ok – but what about the part where he’s complaining that Taylor passes the stats test, but not the “eye test”? Where was this measured evaluation when he was cleaning up Orton’s bad throw to Watkins vs Detroit or extolling Kyle’s 60% accuracy under the guise of “hey he’s all they need to be a playoff team”. Why must the bar become that much higher for Tyrod? I’ve seen one quarterback slide short of a first down marker because he wasn’t about that life; I’ve seen the other mess up his MCL enroute to dragging this team to victory. Guess which one’s passing the eye test to me thus far?
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