The Buffalo Bills are coming into training camp with Matt Cassel, EJ Manuel and Tyrod Taylor set to compete for Rex Ryan to start at quarterback this season and all three players are expected to get a chance to win the job and this comes as Evan Mathis and Wayne Hunter are potential free agent additions for the Bills this offseason.
The Bills pulled a trade for Matt Cassel this offseason and Ryan also brought in Tyrod Taylor to compete on the depth chart with EJ Manuel. The Bills defense is expected to be strong and the offense should be improved after adding LeSean McCoy and Percy Harvin. The main question for the team coming into camp is who will be the quarterback and so far Ryan has been coy about what he plans to do at the position.
Cassel has the most starting experience among the three players and he likely has a leg up coming into camp simply because of that. Manuel has been a disappointment since being drafted by the Bills and there were reports that the team could consider releasing him after training camp. Those reports were refuted by the team, but the presence of Taylor does not breed a lot of confidence in Manuel. Ryan has done competitions before when he was in New York with Geno Smith, but this time around it looks like a legit open chance for all three players to win the job.
According to Pro Football Talk, Ryan and the Bills are giving "Taylor every opportunity" and that doesn't bode well for Manuel heading into camp. Manuel could be slotted as the third quarterback and that would be disappointing after he was a first round pick under Doug Marrone. Taylor comes in after being a backup with the Ravens for Joe Flacco and that experience could make him a solid option to start or be a backup for Cassel.
Taylor has not had the chance to get things going in the NFL, but he did start over 40 games with Virginia Tech in college. Taylor would give the team a potentially explosive option at quarterback and right now he looks more likely to be one of the top two quarterbacks than Manuel. According to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, "several people within the organization" think that Taylor has the potential to start in Week 1 for the Bills and he could win the job with a strong performance in training camp.
The Bills reportedly let all three quarterbacks take first team snaps in OTAs and that could continue through the summer. Taylor comes in with just 35 pass attempts in his career, but so far he has been impressing Ryan with his preparation and could be a dark horse to win the starting job. According to Pro Football Talk, Evan Mathis could be an option for the Bills, as the team is doing its homework on the guard and could sign him for camp. Mike Rodak of ESPN.com reported last week that the team was looking at tackle Wayne Hunter as well.
