Not a big fan of starting Tyrod

[Mace]

Why?

We have one of the best young WR threats in Sammy Watkins, a rock solid WR in Robert Woods, a playmaking downfield threat in Percy Harvin, and you signed a receiving TE threat to a monster contract in Charles Clay...

Yet we're starting a QB who doesn't throw downfield and hasn't thrown a TD in the NFL ever?

Dink and dunk won't win games. Points do. Run heavy? sure. But defenses simply stack the box.

If you want a legit playoff contender you have to be able to score through the air as well. I don't need Tyrod to be a stud passer. But he has to show he can at least throw to our WR weapons in the intermediate to long routes and throw TD's in the red zone.

This move potentially makes our offense one dimensional, limited in the pass game, and possibly easier to defend against.

I hope to hell he throws well and averages 2 TD's a game. I'm rooting for him but this move seems risky to me.

I understand what you're saying, but this is what they intended to do in Hiring Ryan/Roman, getting Incognito, drafting Miller, signing Felton and trading for McCoy, adding Mulligan, drafting Karlos Williams and Ryan saying we're going to run 50 times a game if we can.

You can't really fault Taylor, Cassel, Manuel or even Simms for being running game QB's not intended to pass much.

Taylor is at least not crazylegs take off type, has some pocket discipline and ability to ready defenses, looks relatively accurate when he does pass, and, sadly, adds a dimension to the beloved running game.

He'll surely get concussed and we'll be sorry but at least we took the most dynamic maybe who won't do well, but might make people excited a while thinking we got a bargain Russell Wilson.

[Meathead]

preseason is meaningless but ty and ej had close to perfect preseasons so far. ty was shooting lasers but manuel was the flaming torrent of productivity. if i made up their numbers beforehand you would say no freakin way. you literally almost couldnt ask for better

tyvm matt for trying out but we are moving in another direction. heres another hat and banner, theres the exit, you dont have to go home but you cant stay here. shoo. you go way now

[Mace]

preseason is meaningless but ty and ej had close to perfect preseasons so far. ty was shooting lasers but manuel was the flaming torrent of productivity. if i made up their numbers beforehand you would say no freakin way. you literally almost couldnt ask for better

tyvm matt for trying out but we are moving in another direction. heres another hat and banner, theres the exit, you dont have to go home but you cant stay here. shoo. you go way now

I dunno, I've been a big Manuel booster of maybe but he still looked one play on, three plays iffy to me. He made some good throws against scrubs, and looked uncertain against some scrubs too, I don't know that ends well in regular season without a bunch of accurate 3 yard panic dumpoffs or getting a receiver damaged with an ill timed throw behind him too many times, and again, I like Manuel.

[Cleve]

Sixth round draft pick by Baltimore. Minimal regular season stats to date despite 4 years with the Ravens, and what there is isn't all that pretty (199 yards, 47.2 rating).

So how many other NFL teams have acquired a backup QB from another team, said team not really interested in keeping him, and then molded him into a playoff game winning machine?

[SeatownBillsFan21]

he hasn't even started a game yet besides but once in the preseason.

i liked what i saw when he was out there i think he won the job and im

excited to see what he can do week one.

[BertSquirtgum]

Why?

We have one of the best young WR threats in Sammy Watkins, a rock solid WR in Robert Woods, a playmaking downfield threat in Percy Harvin, and you signed a receiving TE threat to a monster contract in Charles Clay...

Yet we're starting a QB who doesn't throw downfield and hasn't thrown a TD in the NFL ever?

Dink and dunk won't win games. Points do. Run heavy? sure. But defenses simply stack the box.

If you want a legit playoff contender you have to be able to score through the air as well. I don't need Tyrod to be a stud passer. But he has to show he can at least throw to our WR weapons in the intermediate to long routes and throw TD's in the red zone.

This move potentially makes our offense one dimensional, limited in the pass game, and possibly easier to defend against.

I hope to hell he throws well and averages 2 TD's a game. I'm rooting for him but this move seems risky to me.

So, you're not a fan of winning?

[Oaf]

So how many other NFL teams have acquired a backup QB from another team, said team not really interested in keeping him, and then molded him into a playoff game winning machine?

Rob Johnson? Drew Bledsoe?

[Albany,n.y.]

Sixth round draft pick by Baltimore. Minimal regular season stats to date despite 4 years with the Ravens, and what there is isn't all that pretty (199 yards, 47.2 rating).

So how many other NFL teams have acquired a backup QB from another team, said team not really interested in keeping him, and then molded him into a playoff game winning machine?

You can't keep a backup QB after his rookie contract is up, so your "said team not really interested in keeping him" is total nonsense. Denver & the Bills both wanted Tyrod.
For the record, HOFers Brett Favre & Steve Young were backups acquired from another team. Drew Brees was a UFA who went from SD to NO, as did Peyton Manning from Ind to Den. Jim Plunkett went from the scrap heap to Super Bowl winning QB, and Kurt Warner bounced around before & after winning the Super Bowl & led Arizona to another one & just missed winning it. Had enough, or do I need to add Doug Williams coming off the bench & leading Washington to a championship.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

So how many other NFL teams have acquired a backup QB from another team, said team not really interested in keeping him, and then molded him into a playoff game winning machine?

The last playoff game I can see won by a QB that was previously a different team's backup is from 2012: Houston (Matt Schaub) over Cincinnati.

[swiper]

Sixth round draft pick by Baltimore. Minimal regular season stats to date despite 4 years with the Ravens, and what there is isn't all that pretty (199 yards, 47.2 rating).

So how many other NFL teams have acquired a backup QB from another team, said team not really interested in keeping him, and then molded him into a playoff game winning machine?

None?

Yet how many times have the Bills tried it? Holcolmb, Nall, T. Jackson, Kolb, etc, etc, etc.... OBD never learns.

Russ Brandon is still the common thread to all this craptastic QBing.

[trapezeus]

Probably EJ. Not because I'm an EJ lover; I'm not. But because he showed us he can throw TD's and pass downfield. Is he great? Not even close. But he at least showed progress.

I honestly have no data to pull from with Tyrod. I dont know if defenses will respect our passing game. My guess is that they will send heavy pressure and stack the box. And Tyrod hasn't shown me that he can throw his way to a win.

You can't run the ball every single game. Not going to happen. We have to be able to throw to wins sometimes. I just haven't seen that from Tyrod.

tyrod has a small sample size. of that, he has converted a lot of third downs. something few bills offenses hvae done with consistency the last 10 years or so.

i'm not sure what more tyrod can do to make you feel like he can open the middle of the intermediate range given his body of work.

obviously, regular season is different than preseason, but you can only make decisions off of the information you have.

[TacklingDummy]

I understand what you're saying, but this is what they intended to do in Hiring Ryan/Roman, getting Incognito, drafting Miller, signing Felton and trading for McCoy, adding Mulligan, drafting Karlos Williams and Ryan saying we're going to run 50 times a game if we can.

It's a passing league. Lets run the ball 50 times a game. Makes perfect sense unless you are down by 10.

[Bill Cody]

If you're going to give Tierod the job he needs a fair amount of rope to make some mistakes and yes lose some games. Because guess what he's going to need it, he's basically a rookie. My feeling is he gets until after week 7. If it isn't working by then, you go to the bullpen. For me that would be Manuel.

[justasportsfan]

No one knows if he's the next Kurt Warner , Rob Johnson or the next Flutie in terms of bringing in a back-up from another team . No one can tell since he's been behind Flacco all these years.

[Victor7]

I'm not the biggest Taylor fan either but I think he has at least earned the benefit of the doubt with his performance in the preseason. Sure it was preseason and we've had QB's tear it up before there only to fail miserably when the real thing starts (Trent). But hey, the preseason and training camp is all we have right now to evaluate these guys.
I'm optimistic but with measure. For all I know Taylor is a rookie in terms of regular season and could go out there and suck big time. But at least I dont' feel as down as I felt last year when EJ was the starter. You just knew that was going nowhere. Whatever happens I'm sure Taylor's leash won't be that long. If the rumors are true that Roman wanted Cassel he'll push hard to replace Taylor if he struggles.

[Night Train]

Can't wait for the opener.

They chose the right guy and this team has talent.

[Generalissimus Gibby]

On the one hand I am not overly impressed by any of the lumps of crap this team is calling a QB. On the other hand, Taylor earned this shot and honestly, and I know how very little weight we should place on the preseason but my QB rotation is Taylor, Manuel, and Simms. Trade Cassel, get a future draft pick and give Taylor his chance. I liked his pocket presence and accuracy. If he can command long scoring drives that eat lots of clock and we are able to punch it in for 6 every now and again and he doesn't screw up too much then I think we can do surprisingly well.

[The Jokeman]

You think his body of work or lack thereof is enough to know what kind of qb he is?

Trentative Edwards or Rob Johnson weren't dink and dunk qbs after even after 10 games. That's more experience than what Tyrod has and yet no one knew what kind of qbs they'd turn out to be after 10 games. EJ was a scared qb last year who looked like he was on the way to being the next trent/Robosack and didn't look it this year.

My point is that there isn't enough data to know that Tyrod will dink and dunk or be a gunslinger.

Prior to this preseason Tyrod's stats were uninspiring both in the pre and regular season. Maybe he finally put it together but I'm reserved as he played against backups throughout the preseason and showed some struggles inside the redzone as a passer, didn't hit any of his long passes and don't remember many over the middle throws. All things most shorter QBs deal with. Yet I will applaud him for his ability to dink and dunk. He earned the start but if he struggles early I don't keep him in there long term especially since our first 2 games are against Conference opponents and then our 3rd game is a division game against Miami. So our playoff hopes could be down the tube with a slow start by Tyrod.

[The Jokeman]

On the one hand I am not overly impressed by any of the lumps of crap this team is calling a QB. On the other hand, Taylor earned this shot and honestly, and I know how very little weight we should place on the preseason but my QB rotation is Taylor, Manuel, and Simms. Trade Cassel, get a future draft pick and give Taylor his chance. I liked his pocket presence and accuracy. If he can command long scoring drives that eat lots of clock and we are able to punch it in for 6 every now and again and he doesn't screw up too much then I think we can do surprisingly well.

Even as one of the bigger EJ supportes I can't embrace this. If the Bills are truly playing for the playoffs this year moving Cassel makes no sense. As Tyrod is a complete X factor, Manuel is questionable play and Simms is not an NFL QB. At least Cassel is this, yes he's a below average starter but he's an above average backup.

[The Jokeman]

You can't keep a backup QB after his rookie contract is up, so your "said team not really interested in keeping him" is total nonsense. Denver & the Bills both wanted Tyrod.
For the record, HOFers Brett Favre & Steve Young were backups acquired from another team. Drew Brees was a UFA who went from SD to NO, as did Peyton Manning from Ind to Den. Jim Plunkett went from the scrap heap to Super Bowl winning QB, and Kurt Warner bounced around before & after winning the Super Bowl & led Arizona to another one & just missed winning it. Had enough, or do I need to add Doug Williams coming off the bench & leading Washington to a championship.

The Broncos wanted Tyrod as a backup behind Manning, totally difference situation. Tyrod said it so much himself the only reason he came here vs Denver was the chance to start. Now he's going to get his chance, if he falters that he was what he was in Baltimore a backup/never was. Also every player you mentioned except for Warner were drafted to be starters, Tyrod was a shot/gamble 6th Rounder. It's ironic but the debate you propose is a model for a team to take a chance on EJ too.