Quite the dilemma has been brewing in Buffalo this summer, as the regular season home opener against the Indianapolis Colts is just 13 days away, yet the Bills still don’t have their starting quarterback.
And last night’s preseason game didn’t do anything to solve the situation, as all three quarterbacks showed up with strong play in their 43-19 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
After the game, head coach Rex Ryan said that the coaching staff would make a decision sometime Sunday, and would announce it to the team but not the media.
Team leaders don’t have a clue.
“I don’t have to make that decision,” Fred Jackson said with a smile last night after the win. “But I don’t know, they all look good so I think we could win with whoever they decide to pick.”
It has to be a two quarterback race.
The roster is built to win now, but it’s also built to win over the next couple of years. The veteran Matt Cassel, who will has the most experience, also has the lowest ceiling between the three options.
He is also set to become a free agent at the end of the season. It is unlikely Buffalo would be looking to a 34-year old quarterback to become “their guy”.
Greg Roman runs a complex offense that has used read-option plays effectively in the past.
EJ Manuel and Tyrod Taylor both have the athleticism to be able to do it with their legs.
Taylor has looked outstanding this season, especially during training camp when he was asked to run the zone-read. He is great at reading the option guy (usually a defensive end or linebacker depending on who the last guy on the line of scrimmage is for the defense) and doesn’t hesitate to pull the ball from his running back’s gut and take off with it.
EJ has the tools to run it well too, but whether it was just being a young quarterback, or whether the old regime told him not to run after his knee injury against the Cleveland Browns early in his career, Manuel just hasn’t looked comfortable keeping the ball in game action.
Their athletic ability is enough that both of these guys would create some headaches for opposing teams, and take some pressure off the running backs, if the Bills can come out and run a bunch of unique looks.
It’s the two of their arms that seem to be the biggest question mark.
EJ’s struggles are well known at this point.
The talent is there, it’s just the consistency that has hurt Manuel the most.
He can thread the needle on a pass into tight coverage on one play, and then throw the ball 10 yards behind his intended target on the very next snap.
The throwing ability is there, it just has to show itself on every play.
The thing about Taylor, is while he has sat on the bench and been learning the past few seasons, he hasn’t even received the game experience Manuel has in his short career.
We’re quick to write off EJ as a bust already after just 15 games, what about the guy who has just 35 career attempts?
There is going to be times that Taylor really struggles. If he does win the job, he will go through the growing pains that a first year quarterback is expected to go through.
After a bad game or two, are fans going to be clamoring for one of the guys off the bench?
Is he still going to be as effective once teams start game planning for him? When they take away his legs, will Taylor be able to do it with his arm?
Or will he turn into a slightly faster EJ?
Both Taylor and Manuel still are developing at this point in their careers.
But both also allow you to run a much more creative offense than if you just had a pocket passer back there.
The Bills have to pick one and just roll with it.
If I’m the head coach, I’m rolling with Manuel.
But since I’m just a writer, and taking practice reps and everything else this training camp showed into consideration, it would shock me if Taylor isn’t the guy.
For now, it certainly is fun to watch guys making plays at a position that the Bills have been looking for an answer to for over a decade.
“It’s something on the sideline that we enjoy,” Jackson said when asked about the play of Manuel and Taylor. “It was definitely a topic of conversation with everybody on the field seeing who was going to do something next. Anytime you have that, I think it just makes you that much better as a team. Like I said, we’re excited about all those guys back there and we feel like we could win with either one of them.”
