Why is Tyrod Taylor not more revered in the Bills fan base?

[billsfan89]

32 minutes ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

why don't you answer it for everyone if its not complicated.

 

Probably is insinuating that there was more love for Fitz due to the fact his is white. Which I honestly think could be true on some subconscious level. Not because fans are raging racists but rather the way Fitz was portrayed by the media was different than Tyrod possibly due to race. Fitz was a white QB who played for the Ivy League and was an underdog story. Tyrod had the same underdog story but was not portrayed as the same loveable hard-nosed player. 

 

But I think in addition to a different media portrayal due to who Fitz was (white QB from the Ivy League that played with his wedding ring on), Fitz also showed a love for the community that Tyrod didn't. Tyrod by almost any measure was a better QB for the Bills yet fans seem to remember Fitz more fondly. I hope that fans do show Tyrod some love down the line and I hope Tyrod shows some love back. But I think the disparity in fans perception is multi-faceted and race could be a part of that.

 

Comparing Fitz 2010 to 2012 season to Tyrod's 2015-2017 seasons basically the three seasons both were the starting QB. 

 

Fitz threw and rushed for about 242 yards per game. Tyrod threw and rushed for about 243 yards per game a wash in terms of yards per game produced

Fitz compiled 72 total TD's rushing and throwing in 45 games. Tyrod compiled 65 total TD's in 44 games. A slight edge to Fitz.

Fitz however was a massive turnover machine 54 INT's in three seasons compared to just 16 for Tyrod in three seasons

The Bills were pretty awful with Fitz in terms of wins and losses. Fitz had a 16-29 in those seasons and a 20-33 record overall in the four seasons Fitz was a starter.

The Bills had a 22-20 record with Tyrod the first Bills QB with a winning record since Flutie. 

 

Now I am not going to put the losing record completely on Fitz, the team was not very good in those years and although the team may have won a few more games had Fitz not had so many turnovers the team was flawed beyond the QB position. But Tyrod allowed the Bills to win games by not making mistakes and making some plays with his legs. He broke the drought and helped to establish McD's culture by helping the Bills overachieve in 2017. 

Edited June 30, 2023 by billsfan89

[Nelius]

I think we all know what the insinuation was but why can't it simply be that

 

A.) Fitz was more exciting on the field

B.) Tyrod came after Fitz, thus after more losing, and suffered even more from drought fatigue

C.) Fitz still shows Buffalo consistent love

 

Very uncomplicated stuff that throws the insinuation out the window and doesn't need much analysis

[GoBills808]

Watching Fitzpatrick play QB was like Russian roulette

 

Taylor was like watching paint dry

 

Of course the one is going to be more popular than the other, simple as that

[buffblue]

Oh, I still remember that first game of Taylor's Bills career in 2015 against the Colts. Tyrod hits Percy Harvin on a TD bomb, Ronald Darby intercepts Andrew Luck, and Rex Ryan was going to take us to the Super Bowl lol

[stevestojan]

Outside of his lack of ability to regularly throw accurate passes, he was the quintessential NFL quarterback. 

[Buffalo716]

1 hour ago, billsfan89 said:

 

Probably is insinuating that there was more love for Fitz due to the fact his is white. Which I honestly think could be true on some subconscious level. Not because fans are raging racists but rather the way Fitz was portrayed by the media was different than Tyrod possibly due to race. Fitz was a white QB who played for the Ivy League and was an underdog story. Tyrod had the same underdog story but was not portrayed as the same loveable hard-nosed player. 

 

But I think in addition to a different media portrayal due to who Fitz was (white QB from the Ivy League that played with his wedding ring on), Fitz also showed a love for the community that Tyrod didn't. Tyrod by almost any measure was a better QB for the Bills yet fans seem to remember Fitz more fondly. I hope that fans do show Tyrod some love down the line and I hope Tyrod shows some love back. But I think the disparity in fans perception is multi-faceted and race could be a part of that.

 

Comparing Fitz 2010 to 2012 season to Tyrod's 2015-2017 seasons basically the three seasons both were the starting QB. 

 

Fitz threw and rushed for about 242 yards per game. Tyrod threw and rushed for about 243 yards per game a wash in terms of yards per game produced

Fitz compiled 72 total TD's rushing and throwing in 45 games. Tyrod compiled 65 total TD's in 44 games. A slight edge to Fitz.

Fitz however was a massive turnover machine 54 INT's in three seasons compared to just 16 for Tyrod in three seasons

The Bills were pretty awful with Fitz in terms of wins and losses. Fitz had a 16-29 in those seasons and a 20-33 record overall in the four seasons Fitz was a starter.

The Bills had a 22-20 record with Tyrod the first Bills QB with a winning record since Flutie. 

 

Now I am not going to put the losing record completely on Fitz, the team was not very good in those years and although the team may have won a few more games had Fitz not had so many turnovers the team was flawed beyond the QB position. But Tyrod allowed the Bills to win games by not making mistakes and making some plays with his legs. He broke the drought and helped to establish McD's culture by helping the Bills overachieve in 2017. 

Fitz and TT are completely different types of quarterbacks 

 

Fitz Was a low end starter… He would push the ball down the field… And create good plays or bad plays…. But he played with the confidence of a starter

 

TT Is literally the mold of the perfect modern NFL back up… He was trained so well as a back up in Baltimore… He Would never lose a game… But he also didn’t win games… He would not take risks as a passer

 

Which your starting quarterback has to do

 

I think Ryan Fitzpatrick is better than Tyrod Taylor and their career stats and teams that let them start show that

 

Fitz also is one of the toughest quarterbacks I’ve ever seen which is another bonus

 

 

[Saxum]

Tyrod took a lot of chances early in his career with some games he lead for an unexpected win with one jersey going to Pro Hall of Fame

Going to  Hall of Fame does not necessarily means it was displayed; Pro Hall of Fame has gotten items and later sold them at auction.

He got lambasted by the mouth king for taking too many chances and became more conservative throwing.

 

It would have been better to make him a slash QB so defenses could not tale away everything he was good at.

 

His coaches were not the best and he needed serious coaching help to transform from a late round athletic player to a QB who could force teams to make more of an effort in stopping him.  His supporting cast was weak and he could not carry the team.  He then got traded for a 3rd round pick, not really given a chance in Cleveland (is anyone really given a chance there), went to Chargers and had his lung punctured by a doctor.

 

He was on 6 different teams in which none of the teams which he had a chance of being a starter was very good. 

He had the ambition during the season but not see him have it during offseason looking for retired veterans to give him help since he was not getting it with coaches.

[GunnerBill]

Fitz never had a good defense here. He was better than Tyrod. Tyrod was meh. I never had an issue with him particularly. I had an issue with the Bills committing to him. Once he was on the reduced bridge contract the final year it felt much more palatable.

[Doc Brown]

2 hours ago, I am leaving for good said:

Because Tyrod Taylor wasn’t here very long with the Buffalo Bills. Let’s not act like Tyrod Taylor was like Joe Ferguson who was here for over a decade and is all but forgotten about by a lot of today’s Buffalo Bills fans over shadowed by Jim Kelly era. Which I understand why that is but just saying Tyrod Taylor forget about him. I don’t understand why Joe Ferguson is basically ignored by this Buffalo Bills fans and the Bills franchise today. Is it really that hard to just retire Joe Ferguson number 12 it’s not like the Buffalo Bills are using the number anyway because it’s retired for Jim Kelly. Same Tom Barrasso’s number 30 not like the Buffalo Sabres are using it anyway Ryan Miller.
 

The Buffalo Sabres Rene Robert is more revered than Buffalo Bills Joe Ferguson. I was a fan of both but Rene Robert has his number retired really didn’t do all that much more than Joe Ferguson in professional sports in Buffalo. I think Joe Ferguson was overshadowed by the Electric Company with OJ. Then in the early 1980’s Joe Ferguson was in his prime that main problem was Ralph Wilson’s cheap ness not paying coaches and players to stay together. Joe Ferguson was always getting use to new coaches and players because Ralph Wilson didn’t want to pay to keep the team together until the 1990’s. When Ralph Wilson was older and I think realized I can’t take the money with me so Ralph Wilson had a change of heart and started spending more money on retaining his talent. But we wasted those early 1980’s teams. If Chuck Knox was kept there is no way the Bills are 2-14 in 1984 and 1985 in my opinion. Go Bills! Let’s Go Buffalo 

Are you a Joe Ferguson fan?

[BillsFanForever19]

Tyrod was better than most of the garbage QB's we had during the drought era. His ability to move was great. 

 

However, his title for the entirety of his career was "game manager". If the running game and the Defense was carrying the game, he could do enough and protect the ball enough to get us the win. But he couldn't take a game over like a true Franchise QB could.

 

Every week, he'd be praised for not turning the football over. But that was mainly because he rarely threw the ball unless someone was WIDE open. If someone had an ounce of coverage on them, they weren't getting the ball. 

 

So many games we'd fall behind and I'd be screaming at the TV "Throw the ball! Make something happen!" and he'd play with the same urgency he played with to start the game. The guy just rarely took a chance. 

 

When Josh makes the occasional boneheaded play, I always think of the Tyrod years and say "I'd rather deal with this occasionally than deal with a game manager".

 

Ultimately, Tyrod was the ideal Bridge or Backup QB in the NFL. Someone who won't lose you the game and be a steady hand. But he wasn't a Franchise guy. His career trajectory after we moved on from him kind of proved what he was. But I'll always appreciate that he was the guy steering the ship when we broke the drought.

Edited June 30, 2023 by BillsFanForever19

[ProcessTruster]

a great example of why smallish QBs will be solid, unspectacular and also won't get you to the promised land in today's NFL.   TT was fine, just not the complete package.   Plus Roman's offense was pretty run heavy, protect the ball, etc.  that did not help, plus the WRs at that time were bad. 

[pocoboy]

13 hours ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

I never ever understood the hate for Tyrod Taylor. He was a dynamic athlete that defenses had to properly game plan against and played a big role in breaking the 17 year drought. I think he is one of the better dual threats of all time and it’s cool seeing the contrast between TT and Allen as runners. Why is he not a bigger part of Bills’ lore? He got done what a **** load of previous QBs couldn’t. It’s not like Losman, Bledsoe, or Fitz didn’t have good defenses too. So I really don’t wanna hear how the defense alone propelled us there. It was also Tyrod’s legs and low turnover rate + big play ability as well. 

 

So first off, I'll put it this way: everyone who had an unreasonably high appreciation for Tyrod would immediately lump everyone who fell into the "Tyrod isn't a franchise QB, we need to draft one" camp into "TYROD HATERS". Including the first line of this post.

 

If there was "hate," it may have been because people worried that the extreme back-in the Bills did in that 2017 season might have abandoned any rational plan to draft a franchise QB. And frankly, way too many of you were advocating for that, maybe so many so that the team felt the need to trade him to both extract value and also to quell any QB controversy.

 

And if you see how Tyrod's last several years have gone, I guess you're still in the camp that the guy just hasn't gotten a shot. Several coaches, systems - and some of them bereft of true QB talent - and yet he couldn't settle into that place as the Case Keenum that takes the Vikings to near glory.

 

It's not hate. I'd love to see him lead the charge. He's an important part of the team's history. But yeesh, this isn't personal.

Edited June 30, 2023 by pocoboy

[Teddy KGB]

13 hours ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

I never ever understood the hate for Tyrod Taylor. He was a dynamic athlete that defenses had to properly game plan against and played a big role in breaking the 17 year drought. I think he is one of the better dual threats of all time and it’s cool seeing the contrast between TT and Allen as runners. Why is he not a bigger part of Bills’ lore? He got done what a **** load of previous QBs couldn’t. It’s not like Losman, Bledsoe, or Fitz didn’t have good defenses too. So I really don’t wanna hear how the defense alone propelled us there. It was also Tyrod’s legs and low turnover rate + big play ability as well. 

because he sucked, then got pantsed by Blake Bortles in a playoff game 

[Matt_In_NH]

The question in the title is reasonable.  The paragraph is a little over the top...ok a lot over the top.  TT is not one of the best all time anythings.   He is a true pro, gave it everything he had and did help break the drought.  I view him as a good soldier overall but no way would anyone want them to be their starter.  Saying someone is one of the best all time dual threats should be coveted.......you are giving him too much credit.   The issue I see is people talk about anyone who is not a franchise QB as "trash", "Garbage" and things like that.  It is ok that he is good enough to be in the NFL but no he is not a franchise QB.

[Nuncha]

13 hours ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

I never ever understood the hate for Tyrod Taylor. He was a dynamic athlete that defenses had to properly game plan against and played a big role in breaking the 17 year drought. I think he is one of the better dual threats of all time and it’s cool seeing the contrast between TT and Allen as runners. Why is he not a bigger part of Bills’ lore? He got done what a **** load of previous QBs couldn’t. It’s not like Losman, Bledsoe, or Fitz didn’t have good defenses too. So I really don’t wanna hear how the defense alone propelled us there. It was also Tyrod’s legs and low turnover rate + big play ability as well. 

Josh is a dynamic athlete.  Ball Joint was an oft injured noodle arm mess.  Was it a coincidence he was pretty much a backup when he left here?  No.

Edited June 30, 2023 by Nuncha

[dave mcbride]

6 hours ago, billsfan89 said:

 

Probably is insinuating that there was more love for Fitz due to the fact his is white. Which I honestly think could be true on some subconscious level. Not because fans are raging racists but rather the way Fitz was portrayed by the media was different than Tyrod possibly due to race. Fitz was a white QB who played for the Ivy League and was an underdog story. Tyrod had the same underdog story but was not portrayed as the same loveable hard-nosed player. 

 

But I think in addition to a different media portrayal due to who Fitz was (white QB from the Ivy League that played with his wedding ring on), Fitz also showed a love for the community that Tyrod didn't. Tyrod by almost any measure was a better QB for the Bills yet fans seem to remember Fitz more fondly. I hope that fans do show Tyrod some love down the line and I hope Tyrod shows some love back. But I think the disparity in fans perception is multi-faceted and race could be a part of that.

 

Comparing Fitz 2010 to 2012 season to Tyrod's 2015-2017 seasons basically the three seasons both were the starting QB. 

 

Fitz threw and rushed for about 242 yards per game. Tyrod threw and rushed for about 243 yards per game a wash in terms of yards per game produced

Fitz compiled 72 total TD's rushing and throwing in 45 games. Tyrod compiled 65 total TD's in 44 games. A slight edge to Fitz.

Fitz however was a massive turnover machine 54 INT's in three seasons compared to just 16 for Tyrod in three seasons

The Bills were pretty awful with Fitz in terms of wins and losses. Fitz had a 16-29 in those seasons and a 20-33 record overall in the four seasons Fitz was a starter.

The Bills had a 22-20 record with Tyrod the first Bills QB with a winning record since Flutie. 

 

Now I am not going to put the losing record completely on Fitz, the team was not very good in those years and although the team may have won a few more games had Fitz not had so many turnovers the team was flawed beyond the QB position. But Tyrod allowed the Bills to win games by not making mistakes and making some plays with his legs. He broke the drought and helped to establish McD's culture by helping the Bills overachieve in 2017. 

Taylor was 23-20. For some asinine reason, the stats people at the NFL gave Matt Cassell the win in the 2015 opener because they started him at qb with tyrod split wide on a trick play for the first play of the game. It was a handoff and Cassell didn’t play another play for the rest of the game, yet he got credit for the win. Anyone with a half a brain would have clearly assigned the win to Taylor.

[Doc]

1 hour ago, dave mcbride said:

Taylor was 23-20. For some asinine reason, the stats people at the NFL gave Matt Cassell the win in the 2015 opener because they started him at qb with tyrod split wide on a trick play for the first play of the game. It was a handoff and Cassell didn’t play another play for the rest of the game, yet he got credit for the win. Anyone with a half a brain would have clearly assigned the win to Taylor.

 

Both actually got credit for the start and the win, which is dumb.  So he's still 22-20. 

 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/T/TaylTy00/gamelog/2015/

 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CassMa00/gamelog/2015/

 

 

Edited June 30, 2023 by Doc

[brianthomas]

i know its a long offseason, but reading a 6 page Tyrod thread in 2023 is not anything im prepared to do lol.

Tentative Tyrod added some level of consistency to the QB spot, and we all know he's a nice guy, but what else should he be "revered" for? lol

Its Jim Kelly, Fitz & Josh, with Josh potentially being the best of all of them. Tyrod i guess would be the best of the worst after them?  If thats me showing reverence for Tyrod than so be it lol

[plenzmd1]

late to this thread, and not reading 6 pages.

 

But in short, I gots a black dog named Fitz

 

And i gots a white dog named Taylor( wife a Hokie, but she  would not allow me to name him him TyGod, so we settled on Taylor)

 

Is that enough respect?

[thenorthremembers]

This topic seems to come up once a year, always during the offseason.   Go back and watch the Wild Card playoff game against Jacksonville, and you will see all you need to know about why Tyrod inst held in higher regard around here.  The quarterbacking in that game set passing in the NFL back 50 years.  And thats exactly who Tyrod was.     Teams who had defensive ends who crashed and didnt contain, coupled with linebackers who were too slow to play sideline to sideline struggled with Tyrod.   Teams who played sound defensive figured him out quick.   Incredibly limited as a quarterback, couldnt throw the seam, couldnt throw people open, refused to throw the ball unless the wideout had clear separation.   The last part was the most frustrating bit about watching the guy.

 

Tyrod was a fantastic leader and if you want to go strictly by stats he did fine here.  Problem is stats lie, especially in his case.   He was a high level backup who started here because of a lack of better options.