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.