OldTimer1960

Taylor has been OK today, but that last series where he robbed O'Leary of the chance to run with an inaccurate pass is one reason they are looking to do better than him. Please don't start a flame war over this post. I give Taylor his due, but he is really a guy who the team needs to replace in order to become a serious playoff contender. If they are satisfied with trying to hover around .500 and maybe squeak into the playoffs if they build a solid D, then he is the guy.

Are you thinking of Derek Carr of the Raiders not being a bust? Derek’s brother David was the first overall pick the year he was drafted and established himself as a good starter.

I think that they want to make sure that Garoppolo has time to learn the offense before they put him in a game. Even if he is good, he could look terrible if he doesn't know the offense when he is put in the game.

There is room to say that Taylor doesn’t suck and also to say that he isn’t a long-term answer for a team aspiring to be serious contenders. It isn’t binary “sucks” or “great”. i appreciate and recognize Taylor as the best QB that the Bills have had in a long time, but I still don’t think he is good enough to not be looking for an upgrade. That is not disrespectful to Taylor, just hoping for better.

IF you can find a genuine very good starting QB in the draft, then you have a 5 year window to build around him ia the draft before he gets paid big and you have to skimp on other positions.

It sounds crazy, but it just may work...

My thought on this is that they didn't really believe that they have a competitive playoff team this year to begin with, so they are installing what they believe will be a more typical NFL offense vs one that would maximize Taylor's skills and de-emphasize his weaknesses. I don't think it is a conspiracy to make Taylor look bad. If they don't think that Taylor is the long term answer, then it makes sense not to tailor the offense around him for short-term gain. Taylor is a bit unique - he has some skills, but not ones that fit a normal NFL offense. If they ran the offense around Taylor's strengths this year, there would be little carryover to the offense that they will run next year with a different QB. if they believed that Taylor was a long-term answer at QB, they WOULD design the offense around him.

Ok, maybe two deep. Taylor's contract represents what the leagu thinks of him - it is stop-gap starter money. Look at the 32 starting QBs in the league and see if you can find 10 that you would pick Tyrod over. Keep in mind on young guys like Mariota that they may improve, whereas after 7 years in the NFL and 2.5 as a starter we have likely seen Tyrod's best or very close to it. To be clear - I respect Tyrod Taylor and acknowledge that he is a decent stop-gap starter. That isn't anything to disparage, but any team in the league that has Tyrod would be really looking for his replacement.

I respectfully disagree with "middle of the road starter"'. I have a lot of respect for Taylor - he works hard, seems to be a leader and has maximized his talent. However, we saw last offseason that the line of NFL teams desiring him to be their starter was 1 deep (Bills). He is certainly good enough not to be an embarrassment as a starter, but his passing is very limited. That really isn't good enough if you are trying to be a serious threat in the playoffs. The Bills do not have a dominant defense and they have won zero game because Taylor carried them to victory. The way the defense is playing, the coaches did not think Tyrod could keep up on offense, so they took a chance on Peterman. That failed, but those portraying that the Bills would have beaten the Chargers "if only Tyrod had started" are wrong.

Why is that a joke? They can try to win today AND try to build for the future. I understand that those are competing priorities, but they are not mutually exclusive as some in the media and here suggest.

Agreed - if there is anyone on that team that thinks they lost solely because of playing Peterman instead of Taylor, then they need to take a long look in the mirror. The defense overall and the OL are a shambles. I know KC is struggling, but I’ll be very surprised if KC doesn’t score at least 30. I think 3-3 is optistic with the way the defense has been exposed.

I agree with most of what you stated, but I disagree that the move away from Tyrod was made in panic. I think that the coaches saw that: 1. The defense has been exposed and will be giving up huge amounts of points most weeks for the remainder of the season. 2. Tyrod's unwillingness to take any sort of chance on thows down field is not compatible with the defense giving up huge points. I think that they thought that Peterman would be more willing to throw downfield which would at least provide a hope for scoring enough to keep up with what the defense will give up. Obviously, that worked out very poorly in Peterman's lone start, but I don't think anyone should delude themselves into thinking that the Bills would have won that game if Tyrod had started. I still think the defense would have given up at least 35 points, even if the offense had zero turnovers. I don't think the defense is being out-coached as much as it is getting out-manned in talent. They do not have the talent to hold up unless they get lucky on a few picks/fumble recoveries.

I think that CB is probably the least of their needs. DL, LB, OL are the big needs...

It is a fantasy to think this team was in the playoff hunt, despite their 5-4 record going into today. the defense is awful - can anyone really suggest that the Bills offense could have put up the 40 points necessary to beat the Chargers with Taylor at the helm and no turnovers?

I don't think anyone argued that it could not get worse than Taylor. That does not mean that Taylor is the answer. Taylor cannot carry an offense in any way. He can succeed at a mid-level, if surrounded by very good talent and supported by an exceptional defense - neither exist here today.

Sadly, I think you are right... At this point, I would stay with Beane and McDemott - they inherited a mess and at least they seem to have some vision for what they want in the future. They want a TEAM that is built first on competitiveness and effort and team-first attitude. That is similar to what Bill Bellichek has built in NE. Certainly, Bellicheck has benefitted by having HOFer Brady, but still the rest of their team embodies the ideals that McDermott is after...

Sadly, that pretty much sums it up. They need a QB prospect in the worst way, but can't afford to waste multiple picks on a hope and a prayer. Even if they can get a decent QB prospect, how do you get enough pieces to give him a chance to succeed? i GUESS my offseason plan would be to do whatever it takes to get a QB prospect and fill in the OL with remaining picks (assuming that there are decent options available in the draft). They will need to do something to help the abysmal defense in FA - but expect another terrible defense next season.

QB is a big problem, but it is nowhere near the biggest problem. The defense has absolutely had the bottom drop out and that isn't due to whomever is playing QB. The front 7 must be completely rebuilt. Kyle Williams is aging and will retire and Jerry Hughes is making way too much money to have as little impact as he has had. Preston Brown might be a starting MLB on a defense with a good DL and there are no other starting caliber LBs on this team. Beyond that, it is hard to know why to make of the secondary with no pass rush and horrible run D. On offense, it hurt a lot for Benjamin to get hurt and Mathews has yet to be really healthy. Missing Clay has been a big problem as well. Yet, as bad as the receiving corp has been decimated, the OL is a bigger problem. I did wonder if the run game struggles were due to defenses not having to worry about Taylor throwing even a mid-level pass, but today they allowed a complete jail break when Peterman was in. Now, I am not sure if Taylor isn't taking chances in the passing game or if he has been making a terrible OL look better than they are. On the flip side, did the OL get crushed because of the change from the ultra-Mobil Taylor? whatever the case, it is clear that the defense is a humongous mess that HAS to be fixed before any talk of competitiveness is warranted. The OL also MUST be fixed as well. Yet, without hope at QB, what have you got? A case could be mad to spend their 5 top 3 round picks on defense and OL, but the draft is also the only realistic place to find a decent QB that will give the team a chance. What can they do in the offseason? If they package picks for a QB, then the need to spend remaining picks and FA to give the drafted QB an OL and some threats at receiver. If you do that, this wreck of a defense will still be giving up 40 points per game. Yet, if you spend your resources on defense, the offense will still be a mess. I am not sure what they should do, but I expect an exodus of highly paid vets that are no longer helping - Kyle Williams to retirement, Jerry Hughes to be cut, Cordy Glenn to go in FA, Eric Wood to be let go... What a mess!

Yes, sadly it is. They are very undertalented and trying hard won't cover that up. I still think that they had no choice but to trade Dareus, but that certainly hurt.

If the defense was good, Taylor would have a chance to sneak into the playoffs, but the defense is worse than abysmal

Does not matter who plays QB, defense cannot stop anyone

Yes for sure - Tyrod would become Steve Young, right?

If Taylor had been throwing these passes the last 4 weeks, he never would have been yanked. i feel bad that Taylor's unwillingness to take any chances was his undoing, but there is no QB on this roster and the draft picks the acquired aren't going to be high enough to help them get one. Even if they draft a QB, This roster needs so much help on DL, LB and OL - not to mention a threat at WR..... sh*t they are a LONG WAY from being competitive

Maybe they can hire Ben McAdoo

Play Tyrod at RB - he would be good at that