Personal Background

• Hometown is Cocoa, Florida; played at Cocoa High School
• Learned to play the drums in church
• Two days after declaring for the draft, was playing the drums at his local church
• First true freshman to start a season opener on the Gators’ offensive line since 2007

“He’s strong. Like, unnaturally strong, when you think of an aggressive, nasty lineman, that’s what you think of.” DL Bryan Cox

Athletic Background

• High school
  • 6’3″, 325-pound 8th grader
  • Played at 385 pounds in his junior year, but that played to the strengths of the run-heavy offense.
  • His weight scared off colleges
  • Team captain his last two years at Cocoa
  • 2015 4A Florida First-team All-State (senior year)
  • Three-star recruit
• College
  • SEC All-Academic roll (2018)
  • Benched for a series to kick off the 2018 season for violating team rules. Returned to the field the next series

Injury History

• 2017
  • Played through a meniscus tear

Production

• 37 FBS games
  • 2018
    • Played 13 games at right tackle 
  • 2017
    • Played in all 11 games
      • Nine at right tackle
      • Two at left tackle
  • 2016
    • Played 13 games at right tackle

So finishing up my filmwork on RT Taylor and one thing I noticed was when UF faced a 3rd/4th and 1 situation, they ran behind Taylor. Here are the stats-

Att: 11
YDs: 41
TDs: 2
1st down %: 100%

Per SIS pic.twitter.com/FjGN3VZcpm

— Cover 1 (@Cover_1_) January 29, 2019

Film Reviewed

• 2018
  • Florida State
  • Georgia
  • Kentucky
  • LSU
  • Mississippi St
  • Missouri
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
• 2017
  • Florida State (Played LT)

Measurables

• Year – Junior
• Height – 6’5″
• Weight – 334 pounds

Strengths

• Dense frame with the lower body of a nose tackle; very thick thighs
• Moves at a surprisingly good clip for a man of his size, above average range
• Possesses very good core strength
• Exhibits elite upper and lower body strength, and it flashes often
• Run game
  • Cold-blooded in the run game. Punishes defenders then laughs in their face as his teammate breaks off a long run
  • Simply a bulldozer at the point of attack
  • Has the power to move a defender against his will by bench pressing the defensive lineman or engaging and driving him off the ball
    • Routinely gets under the defender’s pads and puts them on skates
  • Elite ability to unfurl hips into defensive lineman to re-establish the line of scrimmage
  • Above average grip, but his strike and arm strength still overwhelm defenders as the runner passes by
  • Upper body torque  can quickly displace a defender and widen the hole

“Some guys put their hands on you and you don’t really notice it, he strikes his hands, and you can feel it in your teeth.” OL Coach Mike Summers

• Feet rarely stop driving during run blocks; always working to maintain leverage or seize better leverage to win at the point of attack
• Well versed in combo blocks; can use his arm strength or shoulder to widen the hole, then times climb to the second level well, and uses his feet to adjust his approach to moving targets very well for a guy his size
  • Typically is the drive blocker on combo or ‘deuce’ blocks
  • Gallops into blocks, calmly strikes with force, and can create a wall-like entry point for the running back before smoothly climbing to linebackers
  • Is quick out of his stance on zone runs, uses his above-average lateral agility and strength to stay engaged with his responsibility
  • Executed short fold blocks successfully

• Passing game
  • Smart pass protector; will not fall for the same pass rush combination multiple times
  • Keeps decent pad level and balance during sets
  • Protects inside gap, always eliminating the quickest threat
    • Strength often utilized to envelop speed rushers
  • Displays the ability to quickly shift his momentum from kick-sliding wide to power stepping inside
  • Extremely efficient and smooth on jump and angle sets
    • Quickness catches pass rushers off-guard
    • Hands quickly fire out and place inside the frame
    • Upper body strength to control pass rusher or to take him wide of the QB’s spot
    • Nimble feet with the ability to mirror pass rushers when in tight quarters
    • Anchors easily in close quarters
      • Can refit hands, elevate a defender to decrease momentum, and anchor by hopping or sitting
      • Possesses some of the best anchor recovery in this class
    • More times than not, Taylor is shutting down the pass rush in these pass sets

Weaknesses

• Below average height for a tackle
• Will he be able to maintain his weight?
• Upright body posture, stiff-hipped
• Narrow stance
• Fidgety in his stance, appears to fire out of his stance half a click too soon at times
• Plodding footwork will appear from time to time
• Limited ankle flexion
• Run game
  • Can misread defensive line slants or gap exchanges, leaving his running back to fend for himself
  • Would like to see him run through blocks along the second level
  • Moves too quickly on pulls and will overrun the target
• Passing game
  • Below average footspeed on pass sets, which leads to over-sets or improper footwork
  • The depth of his pass sets is worrisome; leaves a soft edge vs speed rushers
  • At times Taylor will over-set.
    •  Overcompensates the wider the rusher lines up
    • Can open up the inside gap
    • Causes hands to fire out slower than the rusher, exposing his chest
    • Asking Taylor to vertical set versus a top-third of the league pass rusher could create issues
      • Vert sets can be segmented and not balanced 
      • Anchor/anchor recovery drop a notch or two in vertical sets due to balance issues
    • Plays the outside half of the rusher as to not get beat wide 
    • Over-set a couple of times versus Montez Sweat; called for holding one time, and Taylor surrendered a pressure on a stunt by the Mississippi St. defensive line because his over-set put him on a different level than the guard. This led to an interception.
  • Heavy post foot (left foot) by design or to protect vs. bull rushes. Either way, the draft of his post foot appears to slow his kick-slide down
  • Will ‘catch’ or ‘reel in’ pass rushers who set him up wide then slash inside, but will then moves his feet just enough not to draw a penalty.
  • Hesitation or stutter-rushes cause Taylor to become a hip bender and fire his hands palms up, making his punch ineffective, which can soften the edge 

Overall

Jawaan Taylor may not have the typical build for a starting offensive tackle, but he has the traits. Taylor is the prototypical mauler at the point of attack. He asserts his will via his natural strength. All of his power starts from the ground up; his feet are always driving and working in unison with his upper body, and it allows him to re-establish the line of scrimmage in his team’s favor. His force is felt on combo blocks; he can bang a 3-technique defensive tackle over to his guard with a simple pop of his shoulder, but then can climb to a linebacker and pick him off on the move. In pass protection, he is a quick learner who rarely gets fooled by pass rushers twice. If he takes a bad angle on a pass set, he can quickly adapt on his next rep to shut down a similar move. Taylor is cognizant of the most immediate threat, never surrendering his inside gap off the snap, but he also can lock up speed rusher out wide with a quick cat-like jump and angle set. Once in striking distance of a wide rusher, he can guide his hands to proper strike points to lock in then let his nimble feet and strength control the rest of the rep. His strength is the catalyst for his game, and it sets up his anchor and anchor recovery skills up for success. Pure power rushers will have very little success against Taylor because he can absorb the initial blow, refit his hands, and use a variety of anchor methods to maintain the integrity of the pocket.

It’s pretty clear that Taylor’s weight has fluctuated over the years, but it appears to be under control now. How he plans to maintain it will be one of the most common questions he will face in this draft process. Taylor still needs a lot of reps on vertical sets because the wider the rusher lined up, the more he tended to struggle. His foot speed and agility aren’t quite on the same level firing out to kick-slide as driving forward on run plays, but it is adequate. However, this will cause Taylor to over-set when he is playing against a talented rusher. Guys like Brian Burns and Montez Sweat utilized hesi-rushes to get Taylor to over-commit wide before cutting back inside. When this happens, Taylor will use his long arms and arm strength to catch the defender, thereby cutting off the inside line, then move his feet to get his body back behind his hands. For the most part it has worked, aside from a holding call or two, but at the next level, there will be a steady diet of speed rushers that will assuredly draw holding penalties.

Overall, Taylor is a legitimate first-round prospect and one that will likely go in the first half of day one. You can say he has position flexibility, but even though his footwork has improved from his Sophomore year, his film at left tackle was not pretty. So, in theory, you could use him at either tackle position, but I think his home is at right tackle. With his power, ability in confined spaces, and overall movement skills, guard isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Schematically, his best fit would be to a team that runs a lot of vertical displacement runs at the point of attack like power, counter trey, and inside zone, but then complements that run game with lots of play-action, allowing Taylor to execute jump and angle sets regularly. This will allow him to get right into the face of the pass rusher, take away the unpredictability of the rush, and allow Taylor to shut it down with his strength and good feet in close quarters.

Film