Can the Chargers win with Tyrod Taylor?

The day is February 10^th, 2020. At around 12pm central time, The Chargers announce that they have officially moved on from Phillip Rivers after 16 seasons. After the playoff appearances, the AFC championship game in 2008 where Rivers literally played with a torn ACL, the game at KC in 2018 where they would win on a last second 2-point conversion and all the ups and downs….it was over. So, the hunt for a new QB began. Lucky for us a guy by the name of Tom Brady was scheduled to hit the market. 6 super bowl rings, 3 MVP awards and 14 pro bowls made him easily the greatest quarterback of all time. The thought of him leaving New England seemed impossible yet all signs pointed to him moving on. The possible landing spots? The Chargers, Colts, Raiders, Bucs and Titans. It was known early on that GM Tom Telesco was interested in the 42-year-old. It seemed like the perfect landing spot for Tom, the location Los Angeles, Hollywood, Mansions, Beaches, the weather, who wouldn’t want to live that lifestyle. The Chargers are also moving into their new stadium, what other way to bring fans in then to bring the have the GOAT under center going into Sofi stadium. Then of course you have the roster its self. Great defense, RB Austin Ekeler who plays like James White and Sony Michell in NE. And you can’t forget about the receiving duo made up of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. It just made sense, we had the money, we had the team, we had the perfect city etc etc. Tom was looking for a 2 year around 60-million-dollar deal, which was affordable for the Telesco thanks to the 60 mil in cap space. As we marched forward towards FA there was 4 teams that continued to be brought up. The Chargers, Bucs, Raiders and Titans. For a while the Tennessee Titans were favored to land Brady until they re-signed Ryan Tannehill. The Oakland Raiders would sign former Titans QB Marcus Mariota which would bring the race down to 2 teams. The Chargers and Bucs. Well long story short, Tom Brady decided to sign with the Bucs and not long after reports came out that the Chargers would stick with former Bills QB Tyrod Taylor. In a matter of 48 hours in went from the Chargers hopefully getting Brady to now a guy who hasn’t started a game since 2018. Who is Tyrod Taylor? Tyrod played college at Virginia Tech racking up 7,017 yards with 44 touchdowns and 20 interceptions to go with it. After his senior year he declared for the NFL draft. Taylor watched as 10 QB’s were selected before him. With the 180^th pick the Baltimore Ravens would draft him. Tyrod would backup Ravens QB Joe Flacco even winning a super bowl. In 2015, he would go to the Buffalo Bills where he would finally get his chance to start. In 2015 he would make his first Pro Bowl and in 2017 he would lead the Bills to the playoffs for the first time 17 years which is still the longest playoff drought in NFL history. Tyrod would leave the game in the wildcard due to concussion and would end up losing 10-3. In the offseason he would be traded to the Cleveland Browns who had just came off a 0-16 season. In April the Browns would draft Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield. It became clear Tyrod was the going to be the bridge QB to Baker. He played solid in week 1 but would suffer a concussion in week 2 that would send him to the bench in favor of Baker Mayfield. In the 2019 offseason Tyrod would sign a 2-year deal with the Los Angeles Chargers backing up for Philip Rivers. Tyrod would see 1 appearance in week 14 against the Jaguars where he would throw his first touchdown as a Charger. Fast forward to now and he is expected to start under center for the bolts in 2020. This move has mixed feelings with fans as some think they should go after former Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton. In my opinion I’m ok with the move. He may not be the best QB out there, but he has shown before he can win. He’s a consistent low int throwing QB. He took a worse Bills team to the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. He has the weapons, he has a better o-line than last year, he has the defense, he has everything he needs to succeed. Now the Chargers have been linked to several QB’s such as Herbert, Tua, Love and Hurts. So, it’s been clear once again that Taylor will be the bridge QB to whoever we draft. Tyrod is expected to start right away, hopefully for the whole season, then decide at the end of the year on who to go with. So, the question is, can the Chargers win with Tyrod Taylor? Yes, yes they can. They have a good enough team around him, coach Anthony Lynn loves him since he was a offensive coordinator at Buffalo, and he can do something we haven’t seen in a Chargers QB in years…run. Taylor can spread the field, he is elusive and can use his feet when need be. The Problem? Staying healthy. The Chargers are notorious for 3 things…Injuries, no fans and blowing games. This team MUST stay healthy. Last season was prime example of what happens when everything goes south, from injuries to Rivers blowing games to us struggling to bring in fans. It was horrendous. More than half of the team injured…. This team is deadly when healthy and we saw that in 2018. Do I think Tyrod Taylor is an elite QB? No, do I think he’s good enough to lead this team? Yes. There this old saying that has been proved time and time again…defense wins championships. We saw it with the 2015 Broncos, we saw it with the 2002 Buccaneers, we saw it with the 2000 Ravens. There have been countless times where a mediocre QB has led a team to the Super Bowl. At the end of the day, Tyrod has the weapons, the team, and the coaching to win a chip. All I have to say is…don’t be surprised when 10 months from now, Tyrod Di’allo Taylor is holding up a Lombardi trophy.

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