 by Mario Granata There has been a lot of discussion over the past couple of months about Tyrod Taylor and the contract extentions and if he truly is the franchise quarterback that the Bills have been longing for. There were flashes of brilliance for Tyrod in his first year with the Bills and being a first full time starter, however there are many more questions that have to be answered before he can fully take the reigns as the face of the franchise. There are a few key points that you will not hear, or haven't heard when the local media has been talking about Tyrod and they are points that haven't been brought up for one reason or the other. Tyrod Taylor's Contract: If Taylor was the quarterback that people in the 716 have been talking about for months now, why wasn't his contract taken care of at the start of his stint in Buffalo? Well, the person that has to answer to that is Tyrod's agent. He is the one who negotiated his deal with Buffalo. Now, Tyrod was an unknown, earning a Super Bowl ring as a backup to Joe Flacco. Rex Ryan's infatuation with Tyrod brought him to Buffalo, and maybe that yearning for his client should've netted him a larger deal but Tyrod was what we all thought at the beginning of his career in Buffalo: and unknown. How was he going to react to being a full time starter for the first time since college? How was he going to perform when the bright lights came on? Well, we were all able to see his playmaking ability, and perhaps his agent should've had more confidence in his clients abilities and helped him get his payday. Unfortunately, as it stands, if the Bills decide that he is not the long term answer, he will be vying for a starter position at the tender age of 28, which is not a position he wants to be in. Yet again, the Bills will have the leverage. Greg Roman's System: It is no mistake that Greg Roman was the catalyst that was the driving force behind Colin Kaepernick earning a 100 million dollars during his time in San Francisco. Just one look at the 2015 season could tell anyone that. As highlighted on a previous article on Hashtag Sports, Greg Roman: New Town, New Team, Same Scheme, Greg Roman has appeared to take the playbook that he gave to Kaepernick and handed it to Taylor. Similar type players, with a run heavy approach. Many people have been skeptical about the Bills taking a quarterback citing that "Roman would have to work with a rookie and start over with his system". If there is any system that is 'rookie friendly' it is Roman's system. And correct me if I am wrong, but how many starts did Taylor get before he was thrust into the Bills rotation? If you are still unsure, look at the numbers of Kaepernick and Taylor for their first 14 starts.  Taylor is Still Unproven: Yes, the stats are out there on Taylor. He went 8-6 and many believe that if he was the starter for the whole season the Bills would have been 10-6. Well, with 2 minutes left in the Jacksonville game, the Bills were winning, but that is a discussion for another day, so the discussion now is Taylor's ability to bounce back in games where he is called upon to do so. He failed in that respect, as there were a number of games in 2015 where the Bills could have come back and just didn't. Now, some could argue that it was suspect play calling on the part of Roman, or that this is just a very young team with a lot of parts thrown together, but the fact remains is that we don't have the full spectrum of how effective Tyrod can be under center. His reads, or lack thereof are subject to scrutiny, and the fact that there are a lot of parts that have to be resigned during the 2017 offseason is another topic altogether. Now if the Buffalo Bills make the playoffs in 2016, there is going to be a large contingent of fans that would like to see #5 with the Bills, but we must remember that Rex Ryan, on the strength of his defense took two New York Jet teams to the AFC Championship on the arm of Mark Sanchez. Now, I am not completely discounting what Tyrod has done in his short time in Buffalo, but to rush to disucss a long term deal, or go all Houston Texans and throw an absorbent amount of money at him is just not the right play here. The Bills are doing just what they should, and Tyrod could take a few notes from them: Read the field, make the call, and move forward.
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