The Jets’ run defense was terrific at Tuesday’s practice, and one play that stood out was from second-year defensive tackle Leonard Taylor.
Quarterback Brady Cook attempted a handoff to running back Donovan Edwards, but Taylor shot into the backfield so quickly off the snap that he caused a fumble during the exchange.
Taylor, who made the Jets’ active roster last year as a UDFA out of the University of Miami, has rare first-step quickness for a 300-pounder.
This is why he was a consensus 5-star recruit out of Miami’s Palmetto High School, who all the big programs wanted, like Alabama and Georgia, but he chose to stay home and attend “The U.”
He had a nondescript career with the Hurricanes, which led to him going undrafted.
But there is no shortage of talent here, and that play he made on Tuesday wasn’t the first time in camp he shot into the backfield to disrupt the offense.
Taylor just needs to display more consistency, and perhaps Jets coach Aaron Glenn, and the team’s new defensive line coach, Eric Washington, can help the uniquely talented Taylor take his game to the next level, and be less “feast-or-famine” as NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein described him coming out of Coral Gables.
*******
Jets Website Whispers (Dan’s Insiders) Monday-Friday all year round. Nobody takes you behind the scenes at 1 Jets Drive like our daily Website Whispers. To subscribe for just $7.95 a month, click below. You can also grab a combo deal, our best value, which includes our print magazine, which has different content from the Website Whispers.
