Tyrod Taylor Offers Bills Most Hope for QB Stability in 2015 and Beyond

                      Rex Ryan has finally decided who will be under center when the Buffalo Bills open the regular season on Sept. 13 against the Indianapolis Colts. Tyrod Taylor has been chosen as the team’s starting quarterback, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported Monday.

                      Taylor won the job over EJ Manuel and Matt Cassel. He has completed 24 of his 34 pass attempts with zero touchdowns and zero interceptions for 236 yards in the preseason. Taylor has made his mark in the running game in the Bills’ three exhibition contests, rushing for 108 yards on 11 carries.

                      A fifth-year pro out of Virginia Tech, Taylor has not started a game in the NFL. The 26-year-old spent the first four years of his career with the Baltimore Ravens, with whom he played 14 games.

                      The Bills are a team built on defense and their ability to run the football. Buffalo has put together a perfect offense to compliment a mobile quarterback like Taylor. LeSean McCoy, acquired in a blockbuster trade from the Philadelphia Eagles in the offseason, will take up much of the burden on offense. The receiving core—Sammy Watkins, Percy Harvin, Charles Clay and Robert Woods—should be dangerous targets for Taylor as well.

                      Cassel, who has recorded 33 wins against 38 losses in his career, no longer seems like a viable option at starting quarterback. Meanwhile, Manuel’s days as the team’s first-string QB seem over before they had even started. The 2013 first-round selection has been wildly inconsistent this preseason, with most of his reps coming with the third-string offense.

                      Ryan should be applauded for not going with the percieved safe choice in Cassel, a veteran and one-time Pro Bowler whose career has trended downward in recent seasons. Taylor is a boom-or-bust candidate that can make plays on his feet. He can succeed in the offense if he takes care of the ball, presents a threat to run and keeps the defense honest in the passing attack. Taylor represents the Bills’ best hope at quarterback this season and the only player on the roster that offers any optimism for stability at the position in the foreseeable future.

Texans Make Wise Move in Naming Hoyer Starter

                Brian Hoyer has been named the Houston Texans starting quarterback, NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport has reported. Hoyer had been battling with Ryan Mallett for the QB job throughout training camp.

                The Texans inked Hoyer to a two-year, $10.5 million deal this past offseason. The 29-year-old started the Texans’ preseason opener against the San Francisco 49ers while Mallett started Saturday's game versus the Denver Broncos. Mallett finished Saturday’s contest with a 75.3 passer rating, failing to make his case to overtake Hoyer for the starting gig.

                Hoyer posts a 10-7 career record as a starting quarterback. Spending the past two seasons with the Cleveland Browns, he won 10 of his 16 starts. He is the first Browns quarterback to post a winning record since Vinny Testaverde—who played with Cleveland from 1993-95—and the only to do so since the franchise was revived in 1999. Hoyer led the Browns to a 7-4 start last season, before losing his job to rookie Johnny Manziel in Week 15. In 13 starts and 14 appearances overall last season, Hoyer threw for 3,326 yards and 12 touchdowns with 13 interceptions.

Brian Hoyer will be under center for the Houston Texans when the 2015 season kicks off. (Andrew J. Phillip/AP)

                Handing the quarterback duties to Hoyer, a seven-year pro, was a logical move by head coach Bill O’Brien. Mallett, a third-round draft selection in 2011, has made just two starts in his career. The Texans made the correct choice in settling the quarterback battle with Hoyer holding an edge in experience, consistency and decision-making, and throwing less practice interceptions than Mallett. Hoyer gelled with the Texans starters in the first preseason contest. He threw a 58-yard touchdown pass to Cecil Shorts III on Houston's first drive and also connected with DeAndre Hopkins for a 2-point conversion to give the Texans an 8-0 lead in an eventual 23-10 victory.

                The statistics for Hoyer last season—32^nd (out of 33 qualified QB’s) in completion percentage (55.3) and 30^th in QBR (39.8)—were not pretty but the veteran QB was able to record more wins (7) than losses (6), something no quarterback has done for roughly two decades for the once-proud but now woebegone Browns franchise. Hoyer spearheaded the Browns to the greatest road comeback in NFL history against the Tennessee Titans in Week 5 a season ago. He also garnered immense praise last year from former teammate Joe Thomas, one of the most dominant and respected left tackles in league history.

                 "He's [Hoyer] a lot like Tom Brady," Thomas told The Cleveland Plain Dealer last year. "When you look at the way he competes and the way he demands the most out of everybody around him, it's no coincidence that those guys played together. (Hoyer) has a lot of those same mental attributes and that's a great thing for a quarterback to have."

               With Hoyer under center, the Texans will look to make the postseason for the first time since 2012.

Report: Reggie Wayne Took Physical with Patriots

             The New York England Patriots are contemplating signing wide receiver Reggie Wayne. The six-time Pro Bowler flew to New England on Saturday night and took a physical with the Patriots on Sunday, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. 
               Wayne has spent his entire 14-year NFL career as a member of the Indianapolis Colts. He leads all active receivers in career receptions (1,070) and receiving yards (14,345). Wayne, set to turn 37 in mid-November, played like a shell of his former self in 2014, catching 64 passes for 779 yards with two touchdowns in 15 games. 

Reggie Wayne could be teaming up with Tom Brady in New England this season. (Thomas J. Russo/USA Today Sports)

            The move makes sense for New England, which has been decimated by injuries this preseason. Julian Edelman has been out since Aug. 2 with a leg injury and Brandon LaFell has spent the entire camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. Brian Tyms' season is in doubt after injuring his foot on Wednesday, and Brandon Gibson's status is unknown after sustaining a knee injury in the Patriots' 26-24 win over the New Orleans Saints on Saturday night.
            Devoid of a deep passing threat, Wayne might be just what the doctor ordered, despite his decreasing speed and production. He has stated his desire to play one final season in the NFL and the defending champion Patriots could offer him a storybook ending. Wayne, who won the Super Bowl with the Colts following the 2006 season, would give quarterback Tom Brady a veteran reinforcement at wideout. 
             Before New England and Indianapolis played last November, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick called Wayne “one of the best route runners maybe ever in the game.”

“He’s obviously just a tremendous wide receiver,” Belichick said. “A guy that’s extremely smart, very savvy wide receiver. Understands leverage, understands coverage, can read post-snap coverage disguises, has great hands. He’s really a very dependable and reliable guy. Obviously the bigger the situation, the more you would depend on him to be able to make the play.”

             If nothing else, adding Wayne would spice up New England's boiling rivalry with the Colts, who prompted the ceaseless Deflategate saga that began in January's AFC Championship.  The Patriots play the Colts on Oct. 18 in what would be Brady's first game of the season if his suspension holds.