Marcell Dareus

Rex Ryan's expectations overly optimistic given QB situation

Published Aug. 26, 2015 2:31 p.m. ET

foxsports

By Mike Batista

Reporters always can count on Rex Ryan to fill their notebooks. The Buffalo Bills’ head coach had them scribbling away with another bold statement on Tuesday, according to Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News.

Ryan’s right. The Bills do have a good team. Defensive linemen Mario Williams, Jerry Hughes, Marcell Dareus and Kyle Williams combined for 40 of the Bills’ league-high 54 sacks last season.

On offense, the Bills have an up-and-coming receiver in Sammy Watkins and some shiny new parts. Running back LeSean McCoy has run for 2,926 yards over the past two seasons and caught 300 passes in his six year career. Percy Harvin can score a touchdown any time he touches the ball and Charles Clay is an upgrade over Scott Chandler at tight end.

But until the Bills have a legitimate starting quarterback, their playoff chances can be summed up in the famous rant of another entertaining NFL head coach.

Matt Cassel is listed as No. 1 on the Bills’ Ourlads.com depth chart. Tyrod Taylor is second, EJ Manuel is third and Matt Simms is fourth.

Cassel brought the Kansas City Chiefs a division title in 2010, but the 32-year-old has thrown 30 touchdown passes and 34 interceptions since then.

Taylor has created some buzz with his mobility. But he’s completed 19 NFL passes in his career, just one in the last two seasons. Manuel, the 16th overall pick in 2013, lost his starting job to the now-retired Kyle Orton last season.

It also doesn’t help that Ryan doesn’t have the best track record handling quarterbacks. He put Mark Sanchez on the field with a bunch of scrubs in the fourth quarter of a 2013 preseason game, and a shoulder injury ended Sanchez’s season.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Ryan hadn’t decided which one of his quarterbacks will start Saturday’s preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to Pro Football Talk.

That’s not a good sign.

The third preseason game, often called the “dress rehearsal,” is normally the one in which the starters play the longest. Ryan’s indecision implies that the Bills have no clear-cut starter.

It’s hard to make the playoffs without one quarterback who at the very least is good enough to seize the starting job without any brewing controversy.

Over the past two seasons, the only playoff quarterbacks without a Pro Bowl on their resume are Ryan Lindley and Colin Kaepernick.

Lindley was pressed into duty for the Arizona Cardinals when both Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton suffered knee injuries last year. But Palmer, a two-time Pro Bowler, won six games before his injury.

Even Ryan would be savvy enough to take Kaepernick or Palmer for six games over anyone he has now.

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