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The Buffalo Bills Have Found Their Quarterback in Tyrod Taylor

By Joel Childers

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We’re only through three weeks of the 2015 NFL season, but already Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the season. After beating out EJ Manuel and Matt Cassel for the starting job in the preseason, Taylor has lead the Bills to an impressive 2-1 start while emerging as one of the league’s top dual-threat quarterbacks. The Bills have a good defense, talented running backs, and a good receiving corps, and the only question heading into the season was at quarterback. They may just have found their answer in Tyrod Taylor.

Taylor was a star at Virginia Tech, accounting for almost 9,000 yards of total offense and 67 total touchdowns in his career. He helped to lead the Hokies to two ACC Championships and two Orange Bowl appearances, tearing apart defenses with both his feet and his arm.

ALSO ON SPINZONE: 30 Greatest QBs of All-Time

Coming into the NFL, he was projected primarily as a wide receiver, but the Baltimore Ravens drafted him in the 6th Round with the intent of playing him at quarterback. In Baltimore Taylor say behind Joe Flacco for four seasons before signing with the Bills as a free agent this offseason. What separates Taylor from several other recent dual-threat quarterbacks who came into the NFL is that he was given time to learn sit behind a talented quarterback and develop as an NFL passer.

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Taylor was free of the pressure of starting his first several years in the league, and he was able to use this time to develop passing skills that he is now putting on display in Buffalo. He isn’t blowing anyone away with huge passing yardage totals, but his passer rating of 116.3 ranks fifth in the league, behind only Aaron Rodgers, Andy Dalton, Tom Brady, and Carson Palmer. So far this season, Taylor has been a better passer than Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, and Russell Wilson. Let that sink in for a minute.

The more impressive part of this, is that Taylor has played this well with stars Sammy Watkins and LeSean McCoy struggling to perform. McCoy has been outshine by rookie running back Karlos Williams and Watkins has managed only 99 yards and 1 touchdown on 7 receptions through three games. Instead, Taylor has been relying on Percy Harvin, Charles Clay, and Robert Woods in the passing game, and his own legs in the running game.

He opened up the season with a surprising performance against the Indianapolis Colts in which he allowed only 5 of his passes to hit the ground and rushed for 41 yards on 9 carries. Not only did he lead his team to a victory, he greatly outshined perennial Pro-Bowler Andrew Luck who completed just over half of his passes and threw 2 interceptions.

Taylor followed this up with a gutsy performance against the New England Patriots in which he had to use his arm to compete with Tom Brady’s high-octane offense. He wasn’t able to keep up with the future Hall of Famer, but he accounted for 4 touchdowns and again completed over 70% of his passes.

Last week against Miami, Taylor threw for 277 yards and 3 touchdowns with 0 interceptions, soundly beating the Dolphins on the road. Taylor has seemed to answer any questions about him coming into the season, and the Bills have to be thrilled with what they’ve seen from their new starter.

"“Everybody has confidence in him. This whole football team has confidence in him,” said Bills head coach Rex Ryan (via Matthew Fairborn of Syracuse.com) The game that he was terrible he had like a 95 quarterback rating with three picks. This kid’s legit. We know he’s legit. When the protection holds up, this kid can burn you.”"

And that may be just the key for the Buffalo Bills: making sure the protection holds up. In the team’s wins, Taylor has not been sacked even once, but he was sacked a ridiculous 8 times in Buffalo’s loss to New England. Clearly when his offensive line protects him well, Tyrod Taylor can pick apart defenses.

He’s not just a talented passer though, he also knows how to make things happen with his feet. Taylor has 96 yards and 1 touchdown so far this season, and has shown an ability to make throws on the run. He’s fourth in the league in terms of quarterback rushing yards, but the three quarterbacks ahead of him have not had near as much success as passers.

While Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, and Colin Kaepernick may have run for more yards, Wilson is the league’s 13th best passer, Newton is No. 15, and Kaepernick is No. 30. Inside the top-5 in terms of both rushing and passing, Tyrod Taylor has emerged as one of the league’s best quarterbacks.

We’re only through three weeks of the NFL season, but Taylor has impressed his team and the league alike. With a talented defense and elite skill-players, if Taylor can keep up this level of play the Buffalo Bills may very well be a team poised for a deep playoff run.

Next: What We Know About the Bills Heading Into Week 4

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