After entering the NFL Draft as The Wolf’s QB11, Tyrod Taylor takes a massive plummet down our rankings after the team selected Baker Mayfield. Yes, the Browns were always expected to take a QB at No.1 Overall. But Mayfield is by far the most “pro-ready” (and, in my opinion, the clear top QB of this class), thus shortening Taylor’s leash and increasing his Risk substantially.
Ugh. Tyrod Taylor was shaping up toe be one of my favorite late-round QB targets of 2018… and then the Browns decided to be smart for once and took Baker Mayfield.
Now, Taylor still has plenty of ammunition to craft QB1 value for as long as he starts: He’s mobile and brings elite athleticism to the position, spins a beautiful deep ball, and is surprisingly careful with the ball. Moreover, any season with marginal weaponry (2015 & 2016), he finished as the QB8 in points per game, and was able to finish above Marcus Mariota, Matt Ryan, and Derek Carr last season with… puke Zay Jones as his top target. All this despite playing in incredibly vanilla schemes.
With the change of scenery, Taylor has among the league’s most stacked casts, featuring Josh Gordon (potential top-five talent), Jarvis Landry (arguably the top slot weapon in the game), Corey Coleman, (an athletic freak not far removed from receiving awards as the top college wideout), Duke Johnson (among the top receiving backs in the game) and first round TE David Njoku (potential mismatch nightmare). Plus, Todd Haley is as bright an offensive mind this game has seen this decade.
But again, none of this matters if he’s not on the field (and Mayfield’s the one reaping all these benefits).
The team remains adamant Taylor will open 2018 as the starter. But Mayfield’s accuracy and leadership intangibles made him the most threatening of the rookie QBs to Taylor’s starting gig, and the over/under on his games played has taken a severe hit. While Taylor will be a quality fantasy play for however long he lasts, hisexpiration date now feels a whole lot sooner, making him little more than a few week QB1 rental worth little more than a late round flier.
