If you ask Jim Kelly why the Buffalo Bills aren’t an attractive option for coaches, he says it begins and ends with Tyrod Taylor not being a good enough quarterback to take the team to the next level.
"Me, personally, if it’s me, and I’m a coach looking for a team to play with, it all starts from one person, the quarterback,” said Kelly on ESPN this week when asked about the lack of top-flight coaches interviewing with the Bills. “Do you have a quarterback that can lead you to the next level? We do not have one as of right now.”
Kelly should probably take some time and look at the quarterbacks on the other teams with head coaching vacancies:
- Buffalo Bills - Tyrod Taylor
- Denver Broncos - Trevor Siemian
- Jacksonville Jaguars - Blake Bortles
- Los Angeles Rams - Jared Goff
- San Diego Chargers - Phillip Rivers
- San Francisco 49ers - Colin Kaepernick
Taylor had a higher completion percentage than every one of these players. Of the quarterbacks on the list, only the 35-year-old Rivers was significantly higher in yards per attempt and only Rivers threw more touchdowns per pass attempt than Tyrod. Kaepernick had fewer interceptions than Taylor but threw 100 fewer passes in 4 less starts. Rivers bested Taylor in several categories but also led the league in interceptions. Taylor has the most recent Pro Bowl berth (2016) among the group, too.
Kelly continued with his criticism of Tyrod, though, completely ignoring the fact that the Bills were third in touchdowns scored and seventh in scoring when Taylor was the quarterback.
“Tyrod Taylor, he did a lot of things this year, and last year, that a lot of quarterbacks in the NFL can not do. But consistently, he just wasn’t what we needed. He had to be more consistent on his throws when we needed the first down to move the chains, to win games. When we needed to move the chains to control the ball, to take time off the clock.”
Kelly did finish off his comments by giving all three of Buffalo’s quarterbacks a compliment on their demeanor.
“The three quarterbacks we had, when you’re around them - I wasn’t there all the time, - but when I’m around them, their personalities [are] everything you love. You wanted it to work for them, but unfortunately it just hasn’t happened.”
There is a reason the majority of these head coach jobs are open. There are flaws with each of the teams and by the looks of it, each of the quarterbacks.