It was Houston Texans news when the franchise signed quarterback Tyrod Taylor to a one-year contract this offseason, as he’s the insurance policy for the entire Deshaun Watson situation currently had by the Texans.
Last season was maybe the strangest of all for Taylor as a starting quarterback as he was the Los Angeles Chargers starting quarterback for one week, then before their Week 2 game there was a medical accident causing a punctured lung, and by the time he was recovered, Justin Herbert was the starting quarterback and wasn’t looking back.
In his one game played in ’20, Taylor faced the Cincinnati Bengals, finishing 16-of-30 for 208 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. Though last season was one to forget for Taylor, he’s now in line to be the Texans’ starting quarterback for ’21 if nothing is solved with Deshaun Watson with his current off-the-field situation, and the fact Watson has asked to be traded from the Texans as well this offseason.
Taylor isn’t at the same level of quarterback as Watson, we all know that, but at one time he did put up some respectable numbers as quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, with his two best seasons being the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
In 2015, Tyrod Taylor played in 14 games, where he was 242-of-380 (63.68 percent) for 3,035 yards with 20 touchdown passes and six interceptions. That season also saw Taylor throw for 129 first downs and have 45 completions of 20-plus yards. When running with the football in ’15, Taylor finished with 568 yards (5.5 yards per carry) and four touchdowns on 104 carries.
The following season Taylor played in 15 games, passing for 3,023 yards and completing 61.7 percent of his passes in 2016, which saw him go 269-of-436 in his second season in Buffalo. His rushing numbers in ’16 included 95 rushes for 580 yards (6.1 ypc) and six touchdowns.
Houston Texans news: Tyrod Taylor still has ability to be quality starter
Just one year ago, if not for his medical injury, Tyrod Taylor would have started more than the one game he did in ’20, so at least the Texans were smart enough to sign a quarterback who can be a starter if needed, and if not a starter, what a heck of a backup to have.
The thought here as the Texans get closer to camp and the 2021 NFL season is Taylor will be the starting quarterback of the Texans, because from a far distance it is becoming clearer that Watson won’t be the starter for the Texans for the first time in his career.
What seems to be what will happen is Tyrod Taylor will be the Week 1 Texans quarterback, with Brandin Cooks as his top receiver. If Taylor can be near the quarterback he was in his best seasons in Buffalo, the Texans might have a shot to be a competitive team.
Even if Taylor plays the best ever in his career in ’21, there are just so many questions for this franchise as they rebuild and restructure their offense and defense. To be honest, the most anyone can ask for with Taylor in ’21 is to stay on the field and just keep the Texans in games.
If that happens, maybe the Texans can salvage this season and not be the worst team in the league as many are predicting them to be.