Tyrod Taylor is on his third team since the Buffalo Bills decided to upgrade at quarterback following the 2017 season, their only playoff-qualifying season since 1999.
Even though Taylor was the starter for 14 of those games, compiling an 8-6 mark, the Bills chose to get younger at quarterback and ultimately drafted Josh Allen.
Taylor went to the Cleveland Browns, and was replaced by rookie Baker Mayfield after the first three weeks of the season due to injury. In 2019, Taylor backed up Philip Rivers for his last surge with the Los Angeles Chargers, and then started one game in 2020 ahead of Justin Herbert, another rookie quarterback that supplanted Taylor due to an injury.
According to ESPN analyst Keyshawn Johnson, who joined “The Wheelhouse with Jake Asman, Cody Stoots, & Brad Kellner” Tuesday on ESPN 97.5 Houston [KFNC-FM], Taylor has just been the subject of bad timing, not necessarily poor play.
“I think Tyrod Taylor is a good quarterback,” Johnson said. “He just continues to get tough breaks, whether it was in Cleveland or recently when it was in Los Angeles with the Chargers.”
Johnson acknowledged that the same situation for a rookie quarterback to replace Taylor immediately is being setup with third-rounder Davis Mills of the Texans. However, Johnson is unsure if Mills is “the future of the Texans at the quarterback position or not.”
The Super Bowl XXXVII champion still believes in Taylor and what he can bring to a team under center at age 32.
Said Johnson: “Tyrod Taylor is a pro. He knows how to play the game, and if you’re winning and you’re out there competing, he’s giving everything that you’re asking, then they’ll sit tight and wait. If Tyrod is not taking care of business and giving you everything that you want, then you start to look for other people.”
The Texans also have quarterbacks Jeff Driskel and Deshaun Watson on the roster.