Tyrod Taylor

Taylor is on his seventh NFL team this year, but he doesn’t have to move far. After backing up Daniel Jones for the Giants the last two seasons, he will back up Aaron Rodgers for the Jets this season. Jones started three midseason games last year before being sidelined by a rib injury. He didn’t start again until the last two games, when the team’s Tommy DeVito fling had run its course. Taylor didn’t do much, throwing five TD passes and three interceptions with a 7.5 YPA, but he’s a poised veteran who gives the Jets a steadier hand than they got last year from their backups. Zach Wilson, who started 11 games last season, was traded, leaving Taylor as the clear No. 2. Taylor’s ceiling is modest, but he has some rushing upside -- last year he averaged 32 rush yards in his five starts.

With starting signal-caller Daniel Jones coming off a neck injury and a pair of disappointing campaigns last year, Taylor opened 2022 with a chance to helm the Giants offense at some point along the way. Instead, Jones maintained good health and thrived in new coach Brian Daboll's offense, while Taylor was limited to just 31 regular-season snaps. There's little to glean from the backup QB's numbers, as nearly all of his production came in mop-up duty at the end of a Week 14 blowout loss to the Eagles. Jones received a four-year, $160 million contract this offseason, and Taylor is signed as his backup for one more year. It'll take an injury to Jones for Taylor to see meaningful action in 2023.

Taylor opened last season as the Texans' starter but ended up playing in only six games as the result of a Week 2 hamstring injury and Houston's decision to hand the offense to Davis Mills late in the year. When he did take the field, Taylor completed a modest 60.7 percent of his passes and threw an equal number of interceptions and touchdowns (five apiece). He was more impressive as a runner, logging 151 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries. Taylor signed with the Giants in the offseason and is expected to be the primary backup to Daniel Jones. Jones has yet to get through an NFL season without missing time due to injury, so there's a fair chance Taylor will be pressed into action at some point during the campaign.

An errant needle to Taylor's lung from team doctors prior to the second game last season forced the inevitable - rookie Justin Herbert's ascension to the starting QB job. Taylor is a decent backup, and that was likely the role in mind when he signed with the Texans this offseason. However, with Deshaun Watson not expected to play for the Texans heading into Week 1, Taylor will helm the team's offense, backed up by rookie Davis Mills. In that context, Taylor's fantasy ceiling is modest, in what could well be an RB-driven offense. And at 32, Taylor likely won't run as much as he did the three seasons he started in Buffalo (2015-17). New coach David Culley was Taylor's QBs coach in Buffalo, but the surrounding cast in Houston is mediocre at best.

After backing up Philip Rivers last season, Taylor looked to be the Chargers' starter this year. Until the team drafted Justin Herbert sixth overall, that is. Taylor is still expected to enter training camp as the starter, but the Herbert era doesn't appear far off. Taylor was in this position two years ago and it didn't end well, starting the first two games of 2018 for the Browns before getting injured Week 3 and losing the job to rookie Baker Mayfield. In three seasons in Buffalo (2015-17) he proved a capable quarterback, using his legs to make plays and taking care of the ball - he ranked second to Tom Brady in that span in interception rate (1.0). The Chargers have more playmakers than those weapons-poor Bills teams, however, and Taylor, who was noted for good touch on his deep ball, is in his best position to succeed with Keenan Allen and Mike Williams at wideout, 6-5 red-zone target Hunter Henry at tight end and Austin Ekeler, who had 92 receptions out of the backfield last year. Even so, the Chargers aren't so enamored with Taylor - they made a run at Tom Brady this offseason, don't forget - to keep Herbert off the field for long, if not right out of the gate.

Taylor joined the Chargers this offseason after agreeing to a two-year contrac with the team. He played in just four games during his one-year stint with the Browns, starting the first two contests of the 2018 campaign before turning things over to Baker Mayfield. Taylor is now backing up Philip Rivers, one of the more durable quarterbacks in NFL history, so he seems destined to play second fiddle once more. It's worth pointing out the Chargers' recent pursuit of mobile backups behind their statuesque franchise icon, with Taylor joining 2019 fifth-rounder Easton Stick and former Ohio State star Cardale Jones as dual-threat options. In the unlikely event Rivers were to miss time, Taylor's ability to threaten defenses on the ground could open up even more space for the Chargers' plethora of pass catchers including YAC monsters such as Keenan Allen and Austin Ekeler.

The Browns traded a third-round pick to the Bills for Taylor, who now looks like an insurance policy should first overall pick Baker Mayfield prove not ready to be an NFL starter. Taylor seems suited for that role. He's a capable quarterback coming off a playoff appearance who won't turn the ball over - he's second to only Tom Brady in interception percentage the last three years - and is one of the best running quarterbacks in the game, ranking second in both rushing yards and touchdowns from 2015-17. Taylor also puts a good touch on his deep ball. The only time he had a legit deep threat, in 2015 with Sammy Watkins, he connected for 12 touchdowns on passes of more than 20 yards. This season, he has Josh Gordon on the outside. The Browns also added Jarvis Landry to the receiving corps and bolstered their backfield with Carlos Hyde and second-round pick Nick Chubb. Duke Johnson, who had 74 receptions last year, also returns. Coach Hue Jackson repeatedly said since the draft that Taylor is the starter, but he's also left the door open a crack for Mayfield. At least Taylor will have former Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley designing game plans and calling plays, rather than Jackson, which is probably a win already.

Is the glass half full or half empty with Taylor? The Bills can't seem to decide. They wanted to keep him around this year but forced a contract restructuring that cost him $6 million. He takes care of the ball, throwing the fewest interceptions the last two seasons (12) other than Tom Brady (min. 600 attempts), with the third-lowest INT rate at 1.5. Taylor is also the leading rusher among QBs the last two seasons, and his 10 rushing scores are second only to Cam Newton's 15. However, Taylor's completion rate has been mediocre (19th), and his YPA dropped by more than a yard last year. On paper, the exchange of Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods for Jordan Matthews and Zay Jones may not pay immediate dividends, but Taylor can take solace in the fact the new duo is a good bet to remain on the field for the entirety of the season. Complementing Matthews and Jones will be veterans Andre Holmes and Philly Brown, but LeSean McCoy's presence means Taylor will likely remain a caretaker of the offense.

Signed off the bottom of the Ravens' depth chart, Taylor faced little opposition from E.J. Manuel or Matt Cassel in training camp and emerged as the Week 1 starter. It's easy to see what encouraged the coaching staff to hand him the keys to the offense despite his extremely limited resume, as Taylor was the league's second-leading rusher among QBs (behind Cam Newton), though his scrambling did leave him vulnerable to injury as he lost two games to a sprained MCL. He's not one-dimensional, however, also possessing the arm strength and accuracy to stretch the defense. Taylor finished third in 2015 in air yards per attempt, just behind gunslingers Carson Palmer and Ben Roethlisberger - while also finishing fifth in QB rating on passes longer than 15 yards. Despite those tools, the Bills never seemed comfortable letting him be the focal point of the offense, instead leaning heavily on their running game to keep the ball moving. A lackluster WR corps, especially when Sammy Watkins was sidelined, certainly played into that philosophy, but offseason comments by GM Doug Whaley also indicated that the front office isn't sold on Taylor as a franchise quarterback quite yet. Despite an impressive first season under center, he heads into 2016 with more to prove.

Taylor overtook both EJ Manuel and Matt Cassel to land the Bills' top QB job in late August. The 26-year-old Virginia Tech product now merits fantasy consideration thanks to his mobility, with his overall upside on that front now resting in his ability to develop and maintain chemistry with the Bills' solid collection of pass-catching weapons.

Taylor will compete with sixth-round rookie Keith Wenning for the right to serve as the Ravens' No. 2 quarterback for a fourth consecutive year. Joe Flacco has yet to miss a start through six NFL seasons.

Taylor will compete against Caleb Hanie for the No. 2 quarterback job behind Joe Flacco. Taylor held down the role each of the last two seasons, making him a heavy favorite to beat out Hanie. Should something happen to the notably durable Flacco, Taylor's athleticism could lead to fantasy relevance.

Taylor seems to be penciled as the backup behind Joe Flacco, which is surprising considering how raw Taylor is as a passer. He is a terrific athlete, however, with tons of upside should he develop properly.