Taylor Wins Chargers Job

Published

Los Angeles Chargers coach Anthony Lynn announced Wednedsay that Tyrod Taylor will be the team's Week 1 starter ahead of rookie Justin Herbert, the No. 6 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Lynn has made it known throughout the offseason that Taylor would likely land the role.

Taylor will replace 16-year franchise QB Philip Rivers, who departed for the Indianapolis Colts after last season.

The 38-year-old Rivers ranks second all-time in consecutive regular seasons starts by a QB in NFL history, having started every regular season game for the Chargers dating back to 2006, and he is the active leader in consecutive quarterback starts.

Taylor sat behind Rivers last season and threw 6 passes in eight games. He hasn't started an NFL game since Week 3 of the 2018 season when he played for the Cleveland Browns. He was later replaced by Baker Mayfield.

Taylor started 43 games for the Buffalo Bills from the 2015-2017, passing for 8,857 yards and 51 TDs with only 16 interceptions. He also added 1,575 yards on the ground and 14 rushing TDs. 

During the 2016 season, Lynn was the offensive coordinator in Buffalo.

The former Pro Bowler owns a 23-21-1 career record and led the Bills to the playoffs in 2017. That season, Buffalo boasted the No. 10 scoring offense in the league.

Said Lynn on the competition:

The 9-year veteran was named QB1 ahead of Justin Hebert out of Oregon, who will serve as Taylor's backup. 

It's somewhat rare for a quarterback to be drafted in the top 10 and not start the beginning of the season.

The two quarterbacks taken in the top 10 in the 2019 NFL Draft – the Cardinals' Kyler Murray the Giants' Daniel Jones – each started a majority of the season for their respective franchises last season, and the same was the case dating back to the 2018 NFL Draft, with Cleveland's Baker Mayfield, the Jets' Sam Darnold, the Bills' Josh Allen and Arizona's Josh Rosen.

The last top 10 QB pick to not start at least 7 games in his rookie season?

The Chargers open their season on Sept. 13 against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium.