NFL Draft Profile: Reese Taylor, Cornerback, Purdue Boilermakers
#2
Pos: CB
Ht: 5112
Wt: 185
40: 4.52
DOB: 8/27/1999
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
High School: Ben Davis
Eligibility: 2023
Reese Taylor
Purdue Boilermakers
One-Liner:
Best fit at the next level for him will be as a nickel where he can carve out a starting role due to excellent run support abilities and his ability to change directions in short areas.
Evaluation:
Very patient with good feet to mirror laterally at the line of scrimmage in press coverage. Good short-area quickness when driving downhill out of his pedal. Good hip fluidity to redirect and transition out of his hips without losing speed. Does a good job sinking his hips so that he can throttle down and stay connected with receivers at the top of the route. Very good tackler who excels at knifing through the legs of ball carriers. Effectively used as a blitzer, savvy with his timing and creating pressure for the quarterback, also showing the ability to slow down his momentum and redirect off his blitz path to make tackles for loss when he notices it is a run play. Undersized with only average athleticism, lacks the explosiveness needed to hold up as an outside cornerback at his size on the NFL level. Does not show a good feel for spacing in zone coverage, often getting out leveraged by routes. Eyes in man are inconsistent when he has to play from off coverage, will take peeks at the quarterback and let receivers break his cushion. Average foot speed, does not show the recovery speed to get back in phase when he finds himself out of position. A scrappy undersized corner who has impressive hip fluidity to transition and stay connected at the top of routes. A willing player in run support who will tackle and provide you with an effective blitzer in the secondary to create pressure. Lacks the explosiveness needed to compensate for his lack of size in order to hold up consistently on the outside at the next level. Needs to improve his feel as a zone defender if he wants to be effective at the next level as a nickel. Best fit at the next level for him will be as a nickel where he can carve out a starting role due to excellent run support abilities and his ability to change directions in short areas.
Grade:
6th Round
Background:
Reese Taylor, from Indianapolis, Indiana, is coming to Purside from Indiana. At Indiana, he played in a lot of the team's games and made key plays and contributions. He started five games at cornerback in 2021 and also added to the special teams section where he returned punts. He even made plays as a freshman where he played in 12 games. In high high school, he was awarded Mr. Football in the state of Indiana in 2017. Now at Purdue, he will be an impactful player for the team.
