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At this time last year, we didn’t know who the Bills would be starting at quarterback during Rex Ryan’s first year as the team’s head coach.

There’s no uncertainty on that front this season. Tyrod Taylor won the job last year and played well enough that discussions about a possible contract extension have been going on for some time. No deal has been reached and it seems likely that both sides will use the 2016 season as a guide for a potential agreement down the road.

If that’s the case, anything Taylor does to show that he’s the right man for the long haul is going to benefit his bottom line. Performance is one significant part of that and so is being the leader of the offense, something that Taylor feels he’s become since getting the No. 1 job.

“I would say that definitely comes with being in this system and being the starter for a year, learning all your teammates, learning the offense and being comfortable in the offense,” Taylor said, via the Buffalo News. “I definitely feel more in charge, more of a command, being able to speak up. And guys listen because they know the preparation that I put in, the preparation we put in as a unit, and they see the vision of what we want to be.”

Taylor has made 14 NFL starts, so there’s still plenty of ways that things could unfold but the results of his first year-plus in Buffalo have created optimism that he can settle the position in the coming years. That optimism will morph into something closer to certainty if Taylor turns in another good year in 2016.