Born in Hampton Virginia, Tyrod Taylor attended Hampton high school as a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and track. He played as the Crabbers quarterback, safety, and kick returner. He was a dual threat quarterback passing for 5,144 yards and rushing for 2,546 yards and scoring a combined 100 passing and rushing touchdowns.
Tyrod Taylor was recruit by Virginia Tech and committed to the Hookies in 2006. He was a consistent part of the Hookies offense since his true freshman season when he passed for 937 yards and ran for 429 yards. It was not until his true junior season that Taylor fully seized the starting quarterback role for the Hookies. It was this season that his yards per attempt spiked to 9.5. Taylor finished his time at Virginia Tech posting 2,743 passing yards and 659 rushing yards in his true senior season when he was named the ACC player of the year.
Tyrod Taylor declared for the 2011 NFL draft and attended the combine where he scorched a 4.51 40 time and aced the athletic testing posting a 99-percently 117.4 SPARQ-X score. These athletic metrics and above average College QBR made him a steal of a pick in the sixth round of the NFL draft when the Ravens selected him at pick 15. Taylor spent his time with the Ravens watching Joe Flacco play quarterback. When he became a free agent entering the 2015 season, he signed with the Buffalo Bills where he immediately beat out incumbent E.J. Manuel for the starting job. Taylor posted two consecutive finishes as a top ten fantasy ranked quarterback during his first two seasons with the Bills. He was also top ten in the league among qualified quarterbacks in QBR. Taylor’s production regressed slightly in 2017 but despite the Buffalo trying to make Nathaniel Peterman a thing, he was still able to guide the Bills to a playoff berth. Taylor was ultimately traded to the Cleveland Browns in 2018 where he started the season as the starter only to get hurt and never regain the starting job from Baker Mayfield. He then signed with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2019, to ultimately get hurt and never regain the starting job from Justin Herbert. Taylor then signed with the Texans entering the 2021 season, only to start week one and then, get hurt and never fully regain the starting job from Davis Mills.
At this point in his NFL career, Tyrod Taylor is the definition of a bridge quarterback. He can still provide passable fantasy production until he either gets hurt or losses the starting job to a more intriguing rookie.
