National Football League

Could Tyrod Taylor be the Buffalo Bills' savior?

Published May. 28, 2015 12:02 p.m. ET

foxsports

By Carl Pfeiffer

Much of the chatter this offseason has been about the Buffalo Bills current quarterback situation. We all know that it us somewhere between mediocre and okay. But is it really?

We know what we have with Matt Cassel. We think we know what we have with EJ Manuel, and we definitely know that Jeff Tuel is really nothing more than a camp arm.

That leaves Tyrod Taylor? Could he be the surprise or, more appropriately, the savior? Could this relative nobody come in and be the starter for the next 10 years? Recent history says maybe.

Maybe we do have something special. Maybe Taylor just needs a chance. He certainly wasn’t getting that chance in Baltimore. Say what you want about Flacco, but he’s the Ravens’ starter plain and simple. That all said, let’s take a look at the last 25 years and see what might give us Bills’ fans hope.

Back in 1991 the Atlanta Falcons had a rookie QB by the name of Brett Favre riding the bench. He was under appreciated by the head coach Jerry Glanville (who did not approve of the pick), saying it would take a plane crash for him to put Favre into the game. After the season the Packers saw the situation a little differently and actually traded a first-round pick to the Falcons for Favre, and the rest, as they say, is history.

OK, OK let’s not draw comparisons to a hall of famer. That is (afterall) a tad unfair. But let’s stay with the Falcons. Matt Schuab was once Michael Vick’s back-up in Atlanta. After a couple decent outings when Vick was injured, Schaub was traded to the Houston Texans in 2007 for a couple second-round picks. As the Texans starter, he was selected to the Pro-bowl twice and is their all-time leading passer.

Or how about going back up north to the Packers? Favre is entrenched as the stater and a pro-bowler. These same Packers have a kid from the University of Washington riding the bench by the name of Mark Brunnell. After two years watching Brett Favre win MVP awards, Brunnell was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and for the next 10 years, he made the expansion team relevant to include an appearance in the AFC Championship game.

It sounds crazy to compare Taylor to Favre, or even Schaub or Brunnell, but listen, I am old enough to remember when each one of these guys was an untested, unproven nobody. We might just look back at this current untested, unproven nobody and say remember when the Ravens gave up on this guy? I’m sure the Falcons are still kicking themselves about Favre.

More from cover32: