Miami Hurricanes 50-1 Countdown: Ranking the top 50 post-spring players … No. 6 Leonard Taylor

CaneSport is breaking down the top 50 post-spring players on the Miami roster, a list that doesn’t include any post-spring roster additions. Today we break down No. 6, Leonard Taylor.

NO. 6 MIAMI DT LEONARD TAYLOR

Why he’s No. 6

Taylor missed the spring coming off injury, but he laid claim last year to being one of the nation’s top returning tackles … although he did have some moments of inconsistency. All Taylor did last year was grade out in 329 reps at an elite 87.3 percent per Pro Football Focus (79.5 run defense, 53.5 tackle grade, 85.5 pass rush grade). Comparatively, the year prior as a true freshman, in 200 reps he graded out at 71.7 overall (74.5 run defense, 58.7 tackle, 60.4 pass rush). Taylor is the No. 6 returning player in the nation based on his overall PFF grade, No. 4 in pass rush grade and No. 2 in pass rush win rate (19 percent). He also is projected by several sources to go in the first round of next year’s NFL Draft – Bleacher Report has him going No. 28 overall, Pro Football Focus No. 17, CBS Sports No. 15 and ESPN’s Todd McShay projects Taylor being taken No. 14 overall. So everyone recognizes the former 5-star’s potential. As for his on-field results? Taylor played off the bench in nine games as a true freshman two years ago and totaled 21 tackles while tying for the team lead with 7.5 TFL along with two sacks. This past season he continued to be a disruptive force, this time in his first starting role. He ended with 24 tackles, 10.5 TL (tied for team lead) and three sacks along with an interception and a team-high six QB hurries. Taylor hit his stride against Duke and Virginia in games eight and nine with back-to-back elite performances that saw him grade out at 90.0 percent and 90.9 percent per Pro Football Focus, helping earn him some national recognition. But he faded a bit down the stretch, with a 48.6 grade the following game against FSU and then grades in the 60s vs. Georgia Tech and Pitt. Hence us saying he has some consistency issues to shore up. Do that and he will be a huge force in the middle of Miami’s defense and a high NFL pick. His physical tools are undeniable.

What he needs to do to move up this list

Really it’s just the consistency issue. He tended to disappear at times in games … as well as in those games vs. FSU, Georgia Tech and Pitt. But when Taylor is on his game he’s almost impossible to stop. With his strength, size and burst there’s no team that will be able to try and slow him down with one-on-one blocking. So if Taylor can put it all together and go every rep like it’s his last then this has the potential to be an All-American season. It’s also worth noting that Taylor will have a lot of attention on him, especially with another productive tackle from last year gone (Darrell Jackson). There are questions about the DT talent/depth after Taylor, and if no one else is able to really step up then you’ll see offenses using all kind of combinations to block Miami’s main interior threat.

Realistic season objective

Taylor made a big jump up in his production from Year 1 to Year 2, and the expectation is this will truly be a breakout year for him. Remember, in Kevin Steele’s rotation-heavy system last year Taylor only played a bit less than half the time (329 of 786 total reps). Under new coordinator Lance Guidry we expect Taylor to be on the field a lot more than that, and his statistics should show the end result. We’d expect more than a handful of sacks and pushing past 15 TFL. The sky really is the limit for him.

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