Former Virginia Tech football star gets ultimate high praise from NFL coach

Following the 2023 season, the New York Giants did not re-sign quarterback Tyrod Taylor, and the same team they share MetLife Stadium with wasted little time signing the former Virginia Tech standout. That’s right, Taylor for the 2024 season will still call the same stadium home as he did last season, but this time, he’ll be donning the New York Jets green.

Taylor was signed to backup future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who missed the 2023 season after he suffered a torn Achillies just four snaps into his first season in New York. That injury cost him the season and now fully healthy, he’s ready and hoping to play his first full season as a Jet.

After Rodgers went down, New York struggled to a 7-10 finish and third-place landing spot in the AFC East, a spot that nobody saw coming with the hype that was generated going into the season. However, the Jets struggled under center and knew that they needed to upgrade their backup position, and did so with Taylor. He just completed his first minicamp with New York after Rodgers missed it asking for the time off to attend an event earlier this month. Taylor got his chance to impress his new team and his head coach was clearly impressed.

Robert Saleh, the head coach of the New York Jets, spoke about Taylor and what he saw from the former Hokies star in Rodgers’ absence.

“He’s been fantastic. Elite human, elite leader. The speed at which he’s grasping the offense has been pretty cool. He’s calling two-minute [offense] already. … Really appreciate the dialogue that we’ve all been able to have with him.”

– Robert Saleh

The Jets will be the third team in New York that Taylor has played for. He played for the Buffalo Bills from 2015-17 and the New York Giants in 2022 and 2023. During his time with the Giants, Taylor showed that he is still a very good backup option in the NFL and the Jets wasted little time signing him. If Rodgers stays healthy this season, he’ll obviously be the QB for Gang Green, but if there is one thing they learned last season is that the backup QB spot is very valuable and if something happens this season, Taylor is a much better option than they had last season at any point.