Tyrod Taylor
Tyrod Di'allo Taylor is an American professional football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He played college football for the Virginia Tech Hokies and was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL draft.
While in Baltimore, he served as the backup to starting quarterback Joe Flacco, including during the Ravens' Super Bowl XLVII victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Taylor was signed by the Buffalo Bills as a free agent in 2015, taking over the starting quarterback duties that season and earning a Pro Bowl appearance. In 2017, he helped the Bills make their first playoff berth in 18 years. Taylor was traded to the Cleveland Browns in March 2018, with the Bills drafting Josh Allen to replace him. Taylor subsequently earned the starting position for the Browns, Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans, New York Giants, and New York Jets but was sidelined due to injuries all five times and replaced rookies by Baker Mayfield, Justin Herbert, Davis Mills, Tommy DeVito, and Brady Cook respectively.
Early life
At Hampton High School, in Hampton, Virginia, Taylor was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and track. In football, he helped lead the team as a quarterback, while also becoming the team's kick returner and safety. During his four years as starter, Taylor led the team to a 34–4 record. He accumulated 7,690 yards of offense and scored 100 total touchdowns. Taylor passed for 5,144 yards and 44 touchdowns, while rushing for 2,546 yards and 56 touchdowns.When Taylor graduated from Hampton in 2007, he was rated as the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback at Rivals.com. ESPN.com rated Taylor the No. 3 overall quarterback, while Scout.com said he was the nation's seventh-best passer. Taylor, who is 6'1" and 200 pounds, ran a 4.55-second 40-yard dash.
Taylor narrowed his final two choices down to Virginia Tech and the University of Florida, and chose to attend Virginia Tech.
College career
Freshman year
During Taylor's freshman year, he shared time for most of the season with the junior quarterback Sean Glennon.Taylor's first action of college football came in the game against the LSU Tigers on September 8, 2007. In that game, he completed 7-of-18 passes for 62 yards, rushed for 44 yards on nine attempts including his first collegiate touchdown. After that game, Taylor was named the starter by head coach Frank Beamer. In his first collegiate start against Ohio, Taylor threw for 287 yards, adding a rushing touchdown.
One of Taylor's early accolades was rushing for 92 yards and a touchdown as well as passing for 204 yards and two touchdowns in leading Virginia Tech to its first victory against Florida State in two decades. The win was the first ever for Frank Beamer against Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden.
On October 13, in the second quarter of a game against Duke, Taylor suffered a high ankle sprain which forced him to miss two games. Taylor returned in a game at Georgia Tech, but did not start for the rest of the season and rotated time with starter Sean Glennon.
Throughout the season, Taylor accumulated 1,356 total yards, including 927 passing and 429 rushing. He completed 72-of-134 passing attempts, for a completion percentage of 53.7. Taylor scored 11 touchdowns during the year, five passing and six rushing.
Sophomore year
Coming into the 2008 season, Taylor was intended to be redshirted. After Virginia Tech's loss to East Carolina University though, his redshirt was taken off due to Tech's need for more offense. Taylor's first appearance of the season came in the second game of the season against Furman, where he rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown. His first sophomore start came in the following week against Georgia Tech.After starting every game of the 2008 season leading up to the Florida State game on October 25, Taylor suffered a high ankle sprain on the first play of the Florida State game. Sean Glennon relieved Taylor at the quarterback position after this setback. While Glennon got the start versus Miami, Taylor split time with Glennon and led a crucial fourth quarter to make it a two-point game 16–14. However, he was sacked in a crucial 4th and 3 with less than two minutes left. After the loss, Taylor started against Duke. After committing five turnovers in the first half, he was pulled from the game and replaced by Sean Glennon. Taylor then started next week at Virginia. He performed well including a 73-yard run and finished the game going 12-for-18 for 137 yards and a touchdown while also rushing 16 times for 137 yards. Taylor then started in the ACC Championship Game win over Boston College and was named the ACC Championship Game MVP. On January 1, 2009, he led the Hokies to a 20–7 victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats in the 2009 Orange Bowl. Overall, Taylor finished his sophomore season with 1,036 passing yards with two touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Junior year
During his junior season, Taylor led the Hokies to a 9–3 regular season record and a second-place finish in the Coastal Division of the ACC. The Hokies played the Tennessee Volunteers in the 2009 Chick-fil-A Bowl and won 37–14, finishing with a final record of 10–3. After climbing as high as #4 in the rankings, Tech lost back to back games against Georgia Tech and North Carolina, but finished the season ranked 10th in both the AP and USA Today Top 25 polls. In the 2009 season, Taylor finished with 2,311 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, and five interceptions. After his junior season, Taylor had a 23–5 career record at Virginia Tech, which was the second most wins of all time for a starting quarterback at Virginia Tech.Senior year
Taylor's senior season began with two heartbreaking losses to Boise State at FedExField and at home to Division I-FCS James Madison. He was 15-of-22 for 186 yards and two touchdowns, along with 73 yards on the ground, against Boise State, but was unable to respond following a Broncos score with 1:03 remaining. However, Taylor ultimately led the Hokies to a remarkable turnaround season, winning 11 consecutive games after the 0–2 start. The 2010 Hokies became the first ACC team to finish with an undefeated 8–0 record in ACC play in 10 years. They became ACC Champions for the fourth time in seven seasons with a 44–33 win over Florida State in the 2010 ACC Championship Game in Charlotte. Overall, in his final collegiate season, Taylor had 2,743 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, and five interceptions. He finished the regular season as ACC Player of the Year and ACC Championship Game Most Valuable Player.Taylor participated in the 2011 East-West Shrine Game. He completed four of his five passes for 59 yards.
College statistics
Professional career
Baltimore Ravens
2011 season
Taylor was selected in the sixth round with the 180th overall pick by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2011 NFL draft. He was the 11th quarterback to be selected that year. The Ravens previously acquired the pick from the St. Louis Rams in a trade that sent Mark Clayton to St. Louis. The Ravens played Taylor at quarterback, in spite of the fact that many in the league believed he would be better suited at wide receiver instead.In his first preseason start against the Atlanta Falcons, Taylor left with a shoulder injury. Early tests revealed no separation and his injury was characterized as a contusion.
Taylor played in his first regular season game on December 4, 2011 in the form of a single play. In the second quarter of a victory over the Cleveland Browns, he rushed for a two-yard gain which set up a 6-yard touchdown run by running back Ray Rice. In the next game against the Indianapolis Colts, Taylor also lined up as a wide receiver for one play. The following week against the San Diego Chargers, he threw his first career regular season pass, an 18-yard completion to wide receiver Anquan Boldin, for the final play of the game.
2012 season
In Week 17, Joe Flacco was rested for most of the game against the Cincinnati Bengals, offering Taylor significant playing time. Taylor scored his first career touchdown on a one-yard bootleg in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, Taylor proceeded to throw a crucial interception to defensive end Carlos Dunlap, which Dunlap returned for a touchdown in a 23–17 loss.Taylor went on to earn a championship ring when the Ravens eventually won Super Bowl XLVII over the San Francisco 49ers.
2013 season
In the preseason, Taylor completed 21-of-36 passes for 263 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions. He also showed his versatility as a runner, using designed runs and scrambles for 66 yards on 15 carries. Taylor's strong preseason performance allowed him to keep his job as the Ravens' backup quarterback for the third consecutive season.In Week 10, Taylor saw his first play of the season in a win against the Bengals. He ran an end-around handoff from Flacco for 18 yards, which was the longest run by any Ravens player in that game. Two weeks later against the New York Jets, Taylor played 12 total snaps, five at quarterback, where he gained seven yards on four carries, as well as a 17-yard first down run in the first quarter. Taylor's total yardage was brought down by two second half runs where he lost 13 yards. He also made one reception for six yards.
In Week 16, Taylor entered the game for Flacco during a blowout loss to the New England Patriots. On his first snap, center Gino Gradkowski snapped the ball too far to the right, which was recovered by New England for a touchdown. He finished the 41–7 loss, completing 1-of-4 passes for two yards and an interception that the Patriots' defense returned for a touchdown.