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GENERAL REPORT
GRADE: 5.88
Body Structure: Taylor has a short frame, but shows good thickness throughout his torso and hips. He is a classic overachiever in an undersized body, as he has a soft, fleshy midsection and wide hips, but actually has the frame with the potential to carry more bulk (played at 330 pounds). He has good shoulder and chest definition, adequate arm length and very thick thighs and calves (looks like a walking fire hydrant).
Athletic Ability: Despite the fact that he is very undersized for the classic 4-3 defensive tackle position, Taylor shows good quickness and suddenness off the snap. He generates good strength and consistently plays at a low pad level. He possesses outstanding strength to shock and jolt, along with good balance, but has only adequate, at best, flexibility and change-of-direction skills. He demonstrates the functional foot quickness and active hands to defeat the single block and gain gap penetration. He needs to get in better shape, as he does carry excess soft flesh around his midsection, but it only affects him when he has to run long distances. GRADE: 5.9
Football Sense: Taylor is not the type of player that spends the extra hours in the film room preparing for the upcoming opponent. He has good field smarts, showing the ability to read and react. He has no problem retaining plays and is an OK student. GRADE: 5.8
Character: Talk to teammates, coaches and professors and they all say Taylor is a great person with natural leadership skills. The team captain was highly recruited coming out of high school, but decided to stay close to home. He has an outgoing personality and commands respect from teammates and opponents. GRADE: 6.0
Competitiveness: Taylor is a tough, physical player who compensates for a lack of size and sustained speed with above-average balance, power and determination. He plays with a chip on his shoulder because he's undersized and is determined to prove doubters wrong. He is the classic nose guard -- take out the trash and occupy multiple blockers so a teammate or two can make the play. He works hard in practice and the weight room and can spark the team with his ability to simply obliterate smaller blockers that get into one-one-one battles with him. GRADE: 6.3
Work Habits: Taylor is a self starter in the weight room, but does need a little prodding in order to produce on the field. He understands his role as the "garbage man" on the defensive line, but relishes that his ability to stack and control vs. double teams has allowed for considerable success by his teammates. He needs to get in better shape. He still needs to work on hand placement, but has a punishing hand punch to jolt. GRADE: 5.4
ATHLETIC REPORT
GRADE: 5.93
Explosion/Pursuit: Taylor might lack sustained speed, but is generally consistent getting off the line. He is quick to position and get into the block, flashing the upfield quickness to disrupt. He has the valid short-area burst to get into gaps and disrupt the pocket, showing quick reaction to plays off the side of the blocker, but is just not going to generate long pursuit; he has short, squatty legs and carries too much weight around his midsection. He does play with good body lean and strength to stack and control vs. double teams. When he comes off the snap at a good pad level, he is quick to gain advantage. When he gets high in his stance, he gathers before getting into gear, making him a step away from making some plays in pursuit. GRADE: 6.0
Strength at Point: His best asset. Taylor could relieve Charles Atlas and take a turn holding up the globe. For an undersized player, he packs tremendous force behind his hand strike. When he stays low in his pads, he plays with leverage and has that low center of gravity to get under a blocker's pads. He creates piles vs. the double team, but with better conditioning, he could be an effective terror shooting the gaps. He has a good feel for blocking schemes and is very combative with his arms, fighting pressure to work his way to the ball. He lacks sustained quickness or good lateral agility, but shows good hustle going down the line of scrimmage in pursuit. Despite his lack of typical height for the position, he has enough foot speed to gain gap penetration and is a solid two-gap type of tackle. GRADE: 8.2
Use of Hands: Taylor is a puncher and a mauler, but needs to do a better job with placement to keep blockers from attacking his body. He is very strong for his size, especially when shooting his hands. He can keep separation and handle larger players with leverage. When he attacks an offensive lineman, his initial hand jolt will usually knock the opponent off balance, allowing him to dip in attempts to shorten the edge. You can see on film that his strong stab action lets him easily separate and shed. He still needs to do a better job of protecting his legs, though. GRADE: 5.9
Lateral Pursuit/Effort: Taylor can move down the line adequately, but when he has to do this for several plays, his lack of stamina comes into play and he has to be replaced. The effort is there, but the speed is lacking when having to go the distance to chase down plays. He has a good short burst to shoot the gaps, but no long chase speed. His problem comes when he has to work outside the box, as he does not have the acceleration to pursue in space. GRADE: 4.8
Tackling Ability: Taylor excels at stacking and controlling, can make piles with the best of them, but he is more of a collision tackler than a wrap-up tackler. He is very strong when locking up ballcarriers on plays in front of him, but if he has to give chase at the perimeter, he won't win those battles. He will sometimes revert to wrestling the opponent to get off the block, losing sight of the ball. He has above-average strength to contain the ballcarrier, showing strength, hip snap and roll on contact. He has good jolt and strike ability, but is best when working at the point of attack rather than in pursuit. GRADE: 5.7
Run Defense: Taylor has a strong anchor and when he plays with a low center of gravity and squares his shoulders, he can easy split double teams. Once he extends his arms inside his frame, he can deliver a jarring hit into the ball carrier, as the lead blocker is then obliterated and fails to get into Taylor's body. When he gets into the gaps, he is too disruptive for one blocker to contain. If he gets high in his stance, he can get washed out if he does not beat the combo initially. GRADE: 6.2
Pass Rush: Taylor is relentless shooting gaps, but his feet die once he makes contact in the backfield. Possibly due to stamina issues, he looks clumsy on the move and doesn't chase down the scrambling quarterback. He is just adequate executing twists and games due to average lateral quickness. He stays up and gets involved in attempts to gain gap penetration, showing enough short-area burst to collapse the pocket, but is more of a pressure type who doesn't get to the passer. GRADE: 5.3
Closing on the QB: Taylor had four pressures in 47 games. He will get some garbage sacks, but the QB needs to be right in front of him. He can both collapse the pocket and beat the offensive guard upfield, but does not seem to be consistent finishing the sack. His short burst allows him to get the penetration needed and he will make some plays behind the line of scrimmage, but the Wolverine system called for him to be utilized more in containment rather than attacking the ball. GRADE: 5.0
Instincts/Recognition: Taylor is smarter on the field than in the classroom. He shows a good feel for blocks and where they are coming from. He knows when to create a pile and likes being the "traffic cop" directing traffic in the middle of the field, as he knows he can't generate relentless pursuit. He has good awareness and ability to read and react to the pass and run, and has a combative nature taking on combos and traps. GRADE: 6.2
Compares To: JIM BURT, ex-New York Giants -- Taylor was tailor made to play for Bill Parcells in Miami. He needs some hard coaching and the right 3-4 system to become a classic garbage man in the trenches. When he gets a good angle, he attacks the ballcarrier with intent, getting good collision upon contact. While he can make plays behind the line of scrimmage, he seems more comfortable in his role of handling combos and stacking at the point of attack. For a player of his size, he shows good quickness, along with strength and proper pad level. He plays with good body lean and has the power to stack and control.
OVERALL GRADE: 5.92
--Report by Dave-Te Thomas
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