Raiders Select S Trey Taylor With No. 223 Pick in 2024 NFL Draft

The Las Vegas Raiders have selected former Air Force safety Trey Taylor with the 233rd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Nov 5, 2022; Arlington, Texas, USA; Air Force Falcons safety Trey Taylor (7) celebrates a sack of / Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

With their first seventh-round pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders have selected safety Trey Taylor out of Air Force.

Taylor, one of the best defensive backs in this year's draft class, joins a safety room that is led by veterans Marcus Epps and Tre'von Moehrig, who should serve as great mentors for the 2023 Jim Thorpe Award winner (given annually to the nation's top defensive back).

As a fifth-year college safety, Taylor was named a third-team All-American by the Associated Press and made the All-Mountain West First Team. Taylor started all 13 games for Air Force, recording 74 tackles, five for loss, four pass breakups, a blocked kick and three interceptions, including one he returned to the house.

The season prior, Taylor posted 69 tackles, 4.5 for loss, two interceptions and four pass breakups while starting in all 13 games. He received 2022 All-Mountain West Second Team honors.

Taylor started 10 games in the 2021 season but did not play a game in either of the two seasons before.

Pro Football Focus gave Taylor an overall grade of 83.9 for his 2023 season, 80.0 for his 2022 season and 75.1 for his 2021 season. He also received a coverage grade of 89.0 for his 2023 campaign.

The following is NFL analyst Lance Zeirlein's evaluation of Taylor:

"Taylor is a productive down safety with good size and the type of character teams will want in the locker room. He’s much more effective as a short-zone defender or in split safety alignment from a coverage standpoint. Taylor appears to lack the athletic profile and speed necessary to handle man coverage as a pro. He’s an urgent run defender who works around blockers to make plays near the line, but he’ll also overrun his leverage and end up attempting too many arm tackles. Taylor has enough working in his favor to have a shot at making a roster."

Taylor, who stands at 6 feet and weighs 213 pounds, is from Frisco, Texas. He lettered just two years in high school football and four in track. Taylor attended Lone Star High School in Frisco.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @HondoCarpenter and IG @HondoSr and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.