Here’s Why Packers Believe Tyrod Taylor Is Worthy Successor to Malik Willis

GREEN BAY – New Green Bay Packers quarterback Tyrod Taylor has made a fast impression.

The Packers signed the 36-year-old this week to replace Super Sub Malik Willis, the team’s magnificent backup the past two seasons. Taylor might lack Willis’ electric skill-set of a powerful arm and elite running ability, but he’ll bring 100 career games into the emergency role.

“He’s only been here a couple days, but the cool part when he walked in the room, you could feel the presence, the confidence, the composure,” Luke Getsy, who is back for his second run as quarterbacks coach, said at Lambeau Field on Wednesday.

“He’s seen a lot. He’s been in a lot of different systems, so that part of it just … how quickly he’s able to pick up on things. He showed up when we’re going right to drills and stuff and he’s a true pro and it was pretty cool to see.”

Taylor will turn 37 about a week into training camp. He started 42 games during a three-year stretch with the Bills from 2015 through 2017. Packers passing game coordinator Jason Vrable was an assistant coach in Buffalo for the first two of those seasons, including 2016 as assistant quarterbacks coach.

“I got Tyrod young in his career, so I was in the room with him the entire time, and I think during the games I was on the field with him most of them,” Vrable said. “He’s a great pro. He’s a great leader of men. He’s a vocal leader, too.

“That’s the one thing. He talked to our team today for a little bit, and he said, ‘I’ll be here to help out anybody. I’ve been through a lot in this league, and whatever anybody needs from any position group, if you guys want to come and talk to me, bounce ideas off.’”

Taylor has been a backup for the better part of the past decade, with 19 starts over the last eight seasons.

New York Jets quarterback Tyrod Taylor (2) reacts after a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Four of those came last year with the Jets, though he was knocked out of one of the games on the sixth snap. In the three games he started and played every snap, the Jets scored 27 points in two; they topped that number only twice the rest of the season and averaged a 29th-ranked 17.3 per game.

Their last win of the season was a 27-24, come-from-behind victory over Atlanta. Taylor threw for 172 yards and one touchdown and ran for 44 yards and another touchdown.

“As far as the juice, he’s definitely still got that,” Getsy said.

A backup quarterback serves multiple purposes. The first is the obvious: He must be ready to perform at a moment’s notice, and generally with little or no practice reps operating the game plan. Willis, obviously, excelled in that capacity.

The second is almost as important. He plays a huge supporting role for the starter, serving as an extra set of eyes throughout the week and on Sundays. Packers starter Jordan Love has not had that luxury. In 2023, Sean Clifford was a rookie. In 2024, Willis arrived in Green Bay as a third-year pro who had made three starts and thrown 66 passes.

“Yeah, it should be great” for Love, Getsy said. “I think once Tyrod’s able to get a grasp of what’s going on here, I think he’s going to be a great value for him. The experience (Love) got for three years being behind Aaron (Rodgers) and then then getting thrown into the fire and then having young guys in the room him being the oldest in the room, it’s kind of a unique situation.

“And then now we get Tyrod, who’s been through a lot – 16 years of this league and being around a bunch of different styles of quarterbacks that he was playing with, too. I think all of that is really going to be really cool and something that Jordan will be able to lean on.”

As an added bonus, Taylor played his college ball at Virginia Tech. That’s where undrafted rookie Kyron Drones played. Both are dual-threat quarterbacks.

“I think it’s going to be really cool,” Getsy said of the pairing.

Along with his experience, Taylor’s work ethic and preparation should send a signal of how a pro goes about his business.

“He’s a worker,” Vrable said. “I can’t say that he’s going be the first one in the building, because I don’t want to slight anybody in our building. But when I was at Buffalo, I want to say he never showed up past 6 [a.m.] maybe in an entire year that … I was in the building. [If so], I don’t remember it. So, if you’re talking about first-one-in-and-last-one-out and truly working, that was him.”

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