transplantbillsfan

Thurm, you're like a parrot that responds at certain signals calling out the same songs despite the fact that they've been disproven time and again, but saying them, anyway. Taylor progressed in 2016 from 2015 in terms of both volume but especially efficiency at those throws over the middle of the field, including particularly the intermediate section. We've already established time and time and time and time again that the deep middle section of the field is and was never a big concern because it's not an area of the field the vast majority of NFL QBs go to very often. Despite your theories about the deep section of the field, the vast majority of NFL QBs, including the really good ones, throw the ball disproportionately to the sidelines more than they do to the middle of the field 20+ yards.

He's forced to take a QB at 10 now...? Funny, that's not what I got out of it. Thursday will be interesting...

I'm not spinning anything. Our passing game wasn't great and it wasn't good. But I don't know if you're being purposefully hyperbolic using the word "abysmal" or not.

There's really nothing that can sway anyone. You folks are clearly dug in on passing yards and passing attempts as the ultimate indictment on Taylor. If we can't convince you passing yards and passing attempts aren't as critical as you think they are (after the total number of passing attempts per game goes above a reasonable number... like 20 or 25), then why bother on either side?

If you define the passing game solely in terms of volume, which apparently a number of posters here do, then yeah, Buffalo's passing game was at the bottom of the league. Is that really how a passing game should be defined, though? Look at passing attempts and passing yards and then pass judgment...?

Yeah... that's why the very first game Lynn coached against Arizona he called 8 passing plays and 2 running plays in the first 10 plays (1 of those running plays being a designed run by Taylor) and 13 passing plays and 7 running plays in the first 20 plays (with 2 of those 7 runs being designed runs by Taylor) and the 2nd game he coached in Foxborough was clearly a pass-centric offense with Taylor passing the ball 39 times and getting his first victory when passing more than 30 times. Yeah... Lynn's goal was totally to keep the ball out of Tyrod's hands as a passer.

Not all that much more than Taylor is... No "pure pocket passer" will have a completion % as low as Newton consistently does...

What?! C'mon man... no he doesn't, and no he isn't.

As PolishDave kinda referenced, you're probably never going to like Taylor because he's never ever going to be Brady or Rivers or Brees. There's always going to be a component of escape ability and improvisation to his game. ​But the thing is, Aaron Rodgers has proven that even if those components are big parts of your game, you can still be great. No, I'm not saying Taylor is at Rodgers's level or ever will be. I'm saying that you (and others) have in your mind a QB mold that Taylor will absolutely never be, even if he becomes great (which he isn't). Taylor was actually hitting WRs over the middle more consistently (and effectively) in 2016 than 2015. But you say he has to be "INCREDIBLY" consistent. Seems like something he could never achieve. Or if he became "INCREDIBLY" consistent, the bar goes up to "SUPER DUPER INCREDIBLY" consistent. Taylor's not the "pure pocket passer" some want. It doesn't mean a QB with his playing style and skill set can't be great (and again, no, I'm not saying he's great or will be).

Dude... this is the 2nd time in one page you're bringing up a guy who played at an NFL MVP level for a few years and an NFL HOFer... It's ludacrous. You're talking about a guy who was absolutely atrocious and has never even played at a high level. Taylor has a much better chance of doing what you're talking about because Dennison's system certainly seems right for him; and even there I don't think the chances are high.

He needs a jump in consistency more than anything. He doesn't need a huge jump in what he can do and has done on the field. He just needs to do what he's done well more consistently.

Wait... Tyrod doesn't throw well on the run? Seriously? I expect part of the reason Dennison wanted to keep Taylor was because much of his offense is predicated on bootlegs and rollouts with QBs who throw on the run. And Taylor is excellent throwing on the run. Taylor can throw from the pocket, too. Where is the evidence a QB going into his 3rd year as a starter is stuck where he is and can't get better? I know some of you like to point at his time on the bench in Baltimore as somehow putting him really far ahead of the game, but it ignores what Taylor was when he came out of Virginia Tech and the human component that every single NFL player isn't at the exact same point of development from the time they are drafted to the end of year one to the end of year two to the end of... It's just bizarre to label Taylor as a "QB going into his 7th year" in the overarching way that statement connotes a level of experience Taylor must have... as though Taylor has as much NFL experience under his belt as Cam Newton, who was drafted the same year.

Nicely stated. If Tyrod lasts in this league as an NFL starter there's always going to be an element of escape ability he's going to rely on. But I expect him to improve as a passer in the process and rely more and more on his arm and less on his legs, though not abandoning them. This is why I asked for a definition of "pure pocket passer." You point to Russell Wilson, I think Aaron Rodgers is another example that breaks that construct...

Can someone define "pure pocket passer" for me, please?

Way to totally make something up... you may disagree with his opinion, but it's too bad you have to lie to try to further invalidate his work...

Translation: Fahey's a hack because he likes Taylor and I don't. And because I can cite 2 other QB guys, my opinion is validated. And because he likes Tribusky and I don't. And what the hell does him being in Ireland have to do with anything in this day and age?

It's not like it was an overwhelmingly strong QB class, anyway. The best QB in the class surprised absolutely everyone. The guy drafted #1 overall is on the path to being a bust already. And Wentz started hot and fizzled away the rest of the year. You're talking about a guy as a miss who is really a never was. It's the equivalent of everyone complaining that the Bills didn't trade up to get Dak and how Whaley was wrong to be likely enamored with Jones over Dak. Have we really seen Jones play, yet? For that matter, have we seen Dak sustain his level of play, yet? Pump the brakes with the overreactions and try to find some even ground you can sit on. We need a few years before we can really say anything about these guys. And as much as some will want to jump back to EJ and shout from a mountaintop that "I knew he was a bust from DAY1!!!" I bet many of those are the same guys who were saying "Kirk Cousins is the worst NFL QB!!!" for his first few years in the league.

You never learn anything from him? Have you read his "film room" analyses? I'm not asking that rhetorically, I'm genuinely curious. What he writes occasionally misses the mark, but so does the work of just about any writer out there. Can you give me an example of an expert who consistently writes things you "learn" from and provide one of his articles?

We've been through this. You can find prospects and players that absolutely every single "expert" or "guru" has completely whiffed on, including Benoit. So if you like Benoit more than Fahey, that's fine and you're entitled to your own opinion. But arguing it based on a whiff is pretty short-sighted. Plus, Fahey's area of "expertise" really isn't college. Benoit seems to do more with college, but both guys are ultimately NFL guys, so it would probably at least lend more credence to the argument that one guy is greater than the other if you look at their analysis of their fields of expertise: the NFL.

Did Benoit say Taylor can't throw with anticipation? Beat me to it... I'm not a runner. It doesn't mean I can't do it.

Well... there'd be nothing more to say if it were a fact. It's not. It's Benoit's opinion. And yes, he watches a lot more football than any of us, so it's a pretty educated opinion. But while Benoit has been pretty consistently negative in his view on Taylor, Cian Fahey, another guy who watches every single snap of every single NFL QB, thinks Taylor is really good. And his is another educated opinion that runs quite counter to Benoit's... So sure, Benoit's opinion is worth considering, but settle an argument it does not...

Do people like you punish yourselves if you're wrong or do you just leave the derision for others?

It's probably why Taylor's still in Buffalo...

"He'll come in and he'll watch and he'll learn"... love that attitude.