While EJ Manuelponders his flameout in Buffalo, another Bills quarterback is feeling the love.
The Buffalo News noted Monday that "Tyrod Taylor Fever is spreading" after the Bills passer guided the second team to back-to-back touchdown drives in Friday's preseason loss to the Panthers.
Taylor was just 5-of-8 passing for 49 yards through the air, but added another 47 yards rushing off six carries. He generated first downs, confused the defense and drummed up points, bringing more electricity to the affair than WYSIWYG-arm Matt Cassel or the underwhelming Manuel.
"It's a production-based business," Bills general manager Doug Whaley said Monday, per Tyler Dunne of The News. "He produced with the twos so we're excited for him to get in there Thursday (against Cleveland) with the ones to see what he can do. Everybody knows what he can do with his feet. But I'm impressed with a couple of his throws.
"He's got everything you're looking for," said Whaley. "We just have to make sure he can produce when his time's called."
It's intriguing to hear Whaley gush over Taylor after he was part of a front office that hand-picked Manuel two offseasons ago. That said, Taylor -- if he keeps this up -- is an outstanding fit for Greg Roman's offense. The Bills are going to run the ball a ton, but Roman brings a history of working with fleet-footed passers.Â
Whaley acknowledged that Buffalo thought about Seattle's mobile Russell Wilson when they signed Taylor this offseason.
"I mean, yeah," Whaley said. "Yeah. Obviously him and how Greg had (Niners quarterback Colin) Kaepernick, that's the new-age guy. And it puts the defense in a bind. Because even if you have everything covered, you still have to account for him and his legs."
Still, coach Rex Ryan insisted to NFL Media's Albert Breer that each one of his quarterbacks still has a chance to win the job.
"You look at them, they all get the same amount of reps," Ryan said. "We don't put Matt down with the threes, so Tyrod and EJ handle those reps as well. All of them get reps with the ones, they all get reps with the twos, but we don't put Matt down with the young guys. ... But at the end of the day, we're gonna play every one of them and give all the guys opportunities. We started EJ in the blue/white, we start Matt Cassel in the first preseason game, we'll start Tyrod in this preseason game, and then we'll regroup and go from there for the third and fourth."
None of Buffalo's passers looked good earlier this summer, but cornerback Stephon Gilmore raved over Taylor's development, saying: "He just has no fear."
"You can just tell -- he has no fear. He wants to make the big plays and he's not afraid to throw it up," Gilmore said. "... Some quarterbacks have fear. When everything's going, life is good. But he's not scared to bounce back in any way."
Whaley pointed to the Browns game -- Taylor's biggest outing to date -- saying that "it's up to him" to keep the good feelings going.
Bottom line: If Taylor produces, he's going to be talked about next week as the heavy favorite to start Week 1.
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