NFL Offseason 2019: Predicting Week 1 starting quarterbacks for needy teams

Jacksonville Jaguars: Tyrod Taylor

If the Jacksonville Jaguars were smart, neither Cody Kessler nor Blake Bortles will be back in 2019. It has been pretty much made known that Bortles and the Jags will part ways this season, just one year after he signed a three-year extension with the team. As for Cody Kessler, he has now been given chances to start with two different teams, failing to capitalize in either situation.

In 2019, I would expect Jacksonville to also bridge and avoid a rookie quarterback early in the upcoming draft. With that being said, their defense is good enough to keep the team in games and what is truly needed is a game managing signal caller who will not turn the ball over and put their stout defense in a bad position. If you were to look up “risk-averse quarterback” in the dictionary, Tyrod Taylor would probably appear. However, Taylor also does not turn the ball over.

Going in a complete 180 from Bortles, who was turnover prone, Taylor would give the Jacksonville offense a dual-threat attack as well as a quarterback who throws a beautiful deep ball, although selectively. Taylor led the Buffalo Bills to their first playoff appearance in 18 years in 2017, then was traded to the Cleveland Browns for a third round pick in the 2018 draft, where he was expected to be their bridge quarterback and allow Baker Mayfield to sit for a full season; that did not go as planned for Taylor.

Expect Taylor to get one more payday from a team in need of a bridge quarterback. That team could be Jacksonville. Taylor has proven that he can win and take care of the ball in the NFL, and that should be music to Jacksonville’s ears.