Bills right to move on from Taylor but don't buy into Peterman saving 2017
The Buffalo Bills' decision to move on from quarterback Tyrod Taylor and get a look at what they may have in 2017 fifth-round pick Nathan Peterman is the right choice - just not for the same reasons head coach Sean McDermott is claiming.
“We are in the playoff hunt and we are always focused on becoming the best team possible. We were made for better than 5-4,” McDermott said at a Wednesday morning press conference, announcing the change at quarterback.
The bold move comes in the midst of a season where the Bills sit in second in the AFC East, and in control of the conference's second wild-card spot.
The claim that the team was built for better than 5-4 would've been met with much more dismay in September, following an offseason where the team traded wide receiver Sammy Watkins and cornerback Ronald Darby, mostly for future assets, and received Pro Football Focus' current 109th-ranked receiver Jordan Matthews and 35th-ranked cornerback E.J. Gaines. Watkins ranks as the 37th receiver, while Darby's season has been mostly lost to an ankle injury.
It was largely the play of Taylor and his motley crew of pass catchers consisting of Matthews, second-round receiver Zay Jones, tight end Charles Clay, and various other castoffs, that set the Bills in the right direction.
His benching now comes as punishment for the team's current standing and over achievements.
Taylor ranks as PFF's No. 9 quarterback through the first 10 weeks of the season. After being a major reason for the Bills' 5-2 start, he rightfully takes the fault for back-to-back losses to the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints, dropping the team to 5-4.
Now on the brink of losing their hold on an unlikely playoff spot, McDermott and offensive coordinator Rick Dennison have decided it's time to cut Taylor loose of a system not designed for his athleticism and run-happy personal preference. The team needed just one look at the offense with recently-acquired wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin to arrive at this conclusion.
The choice to investigate the abilities and future potential of Peterman should have come this offseason, before Taylor was signed to a two-year, $30.5-million contract. The team opted to stick with known mediocrity in Taylor instead of resetting with any one of the veteran journeyman quarterbacks available in free agency.
It would have come then as just the next logical move in a year meant for moving forward, instead of now, with so many fans expecting a playoff spot believed to be well out of reach not long ago.
Those fans can only take solace in the fact that 2017 looks more than ever like a rare season in which an 8-8 record may be good enough for that coveted playoff spot. They're just relying on a fifth-round rookie to go 3-4 in the most difficult time of the season to get them there.