Should Tyrod Taylor start for the Giants in 2022?

Tyrod Taylor has never been one to shy away from a battle.

The 33-year-old quarterback is entering his 12th season in the NFL and is still one of the better signal callers in the league. He has opened six seasons as the starting quarterback for four different franchises.

Despite coming off a season where he lost his job due to an injured hamstring in week two, Tyrod was able to secure a two-year $11 million dollar deal with the New York Giants to battle with a struggling Daniel Jones.

Is there a future for Daniel Jones in New York?

After an aging Eli Manning put together two pitiful seasons in a row, the Giants decided to draft Daniel Jones with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Due to a weak quarterback class, the Duke product was able to fly up draft boards based on his size, arm, and coveted pedigree.

In fact, Daniel Jones was coached by David Cutcliffe whose claim to fame was training both Peyton and Eli Manning during their college and pro days. Nevertheless, Daniel Jones has proven to be more of a bust in his first three seasons than the franchise guy New York hoped he could be.

Inconsistent play, poor decision-making, and pitiful losses have defined his young career, and the trend has only worsened since he entered the league. So, when a veteran with the reputation of Tyrod Taylor comes into play, the talks of a change are inevitable. 

Why Taylor is a good alternative

Taylor is a proven starter in this league and his track record speaks for itself. The veteran quarterback was taken in the sixth round of the 2011 draft by the Baltimore Ravens out of Virginia Tech.

Coming out, Taylor was a shorter, stocky dual-threat quarterback who was dangerous with his feet with an NFL-level arm. In his first year starting for Virginia Tech, he went 10-3 with a premier bowl game victory which he followed by going 8-0 against ACC teams setting a League Record.

As a rookie in the NFL, he won a Super Bowl as the Ravens second-string quarterback. Taylor was able to establish himself as a young up-and-comer over his four-year stint in Baltimore. This propelled him into an opportunity in Buffalo, to battle for the starting job in 2015 which he not only won, but helped as he was selected to his first Pro Bowl with a 7-6 team record.

As Buffalo’s franchise guy, Taylor played a pivotal role in turning around a franchise who had been a struggling for almost two decades. In three seasons, he went 22-20 on 64 total touchdowns and only 21 total turnovers while capping it off by ending Buffalo’s seventeen season playoff drought. 

Now, past his hay day, Taylor has continued to play at a high level. While he’s regressed, he has since started for three different organizations on opening day and lost these jobs due to injury rather than play. And while the injury bug is a concern with Taylor, his track record still proves far more reliable than Daniel Jones. In Jones first three seasons as a starter he has gone 12-25, turned the ball over 49 times and has missed over 12 games due to injury.

Additionally, since his rookie year where he threw for 3,027 yards with 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, he has never eclipsed 3,000 yards while combining for an abysmal 21 touchdowns and 17 interceptions in the last two seasons since. Yes, there have been noticeable improvements since his rookie year in the win column.

But Danny Dimes incessant turnover problem and steep regression in both yards and touchdown production since his rookie year hasn’t instilled the confidence Giants faithful hope for in their franchise guy.

And while the atrocious offensive-line play is a legitimate factor, Tyrod Taylor’s inverse play style to Daniel Jones could actually mitigate the effects of this weakness.

Is 2022 his year?

Taylor is a dual threat quarterback who has the proven ability to improvise with his feet when protection breaks down.

In fact, Tyrod’s running ability is one of his best traits as he has averaged 5.5 yards per carry throughout his career while achieving a career high just last year with a resounding 7.9 yards per carry behind the 29th ranked offensive line in the league. This ability will be extremely valuable for the 30th overall offensive line last year, who are looking for some help from their QB1.

But Tyrod won’t just help them with his feet as his arm is quite underrated. While his stats surely don’t scream elite, he has demonstrated the ability to consistently push the ball down the field while making minimal mistakes.

He has a career average 7.0 yards per pass attempt and has never eclipsed more than six picks in a season. So while he may not have the make-up of a young gunslinger like Daniel Jones, Taylor’s reliable dual-threat ability should prove much more beneficial for an offense full of young developing players.

So yes, Daniel Jones is still young and has shown flashes of what the Giants were hoping for from their top-ten pick. But his lack of development throughout his first three years has surely proven he isn’t the long-term answer in New York.

The Giants are clearly in the middle of a rebuild. During this process, it is pivotal to start a proven veteran who can elevate the play of their developing guys. Tyrod Taylor knows how to win games in this league. His wisdom as a 12-year vet can be monumental towards cultivating a winning culture for a disheartened Giants Franchise.