NFL agents are paid handsomely to do one thing and one thing only - protect the interests of their clients. As such, most player representatives are a bit biased in their opinion of just who the best player on an NFL field is on any given snap. See that guy over there? The one holding the clipboard and wearing a headset, with an untouched jersey and not a drop of sweat on his brow? Yeah - he's the best quarterback on the field today. Doesn't matter that it's a late season divisional game with playoff consequences - that guy is the guy.
That's pretty much how the thinking goes for most agents. So it wasn't surprising then to hear the agent for Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor point the finger of blame for the team's failure to reach the postseason last year everywhere but at his client.
Per Adisa Bakari of The Sports Entertainment Group, Taylor was "exceptional" down the stretch for the Bills.
So, if Taylor, the guy who plays the most important position on an NFL field, was exceptional, but Buffalo still missed the playoffs, what, pray tell, was the issue, Adisa?
Discipline and defense, it turns out.
It's true that the Bills, under first-year head coach Rex Ryan, were something of a disciplinary mess by the time the end of the season rolled around. But that's the nature of a bombastic, line-stepping coach like Ryan - his bluster only carries water for so long before it becomes as much of a hindrance as a help. And in a new city with a new set of players, not all of whom fit what Ryan wanted to do (ahem, Mario Williams, ahem) and some of whom weren't happy with their usage (hack, cough, sneeze, Williams), it's understandable that things would start to pull apart at the seams a bit.
There was a point, following a win over the New York Jets in November that put the Bills at 5-2, when it looked like Taylor was going to be the hot young franchise quarterback for a Buffalo squad that had the defensive talent to become one of the best teams in the AFC.
But issues with Ryan's scheme and a couple of mediocre games by Taylor brought the Bills crashing back to earth. Heck, even the two wins Buffalo recorded to close out the season weren't the best of Taylor's season - he posted quarterback ratings of 80.6 and 82.7 against the Cowboys and Jets and failed to toss a touchdown in either contest.
So no, Taylor wasn't "exceptional," and he certainly deserved his fair share of blame for the Bills' ultimate failure. But Bakari also isn't wrong about Ryan's defense, which, despite all the talent at corner and along the defensive line, finished just 19th in the league in yards allowed per game (356.4) and 18th in points against (359).
Really, the most interesting thing about Bakari's comments will be how they effect Taylor's ongoing (or not) contract talks with the team.
