Davion Taylor, a linebacker prospect from Colorado, was selected with the 103rd overall pick in this year’s draft.
After playing next to no high school football, and two years at Coahoma Community College he transferred to Colorado where he started 20 games over two years. Though he racked up 129 tackles over two years, including two sacks and six passes defended, he is as green as they come and likely won’t be an every down contributor for a year or two.
On the other hand, Taylor is an outstanding athlete – posting a 4.49 40 yard dash, 35 inch vertical jump, 127 inch broad jump, 6.96 second three cone drill and 4.26 second 20 yard shuttle. For reference, Jalen Reagor posted a 42 inch high jump, 138 inch broad jump, 7.31 second three cone drill and a 4.46 20 yard shuttle.
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As it stands right now the Eagles have Nate Gerry, TJ Edwards, Duke Riley, Jatavis Brown and Alex Singleton in the linebacking room. With the addition of Taylor the group doesn’t become any better in the immediate future as he still has a lot to learn.
This begs the question – do the Eagles have the coaching in place to ensure Taylor takes the necessary steps to become an adequate linebacker at the NFL level – gut feeling is mixed. Look at former Eagles linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill, he – along with Gerry – were former safeties coming out of their respective drafts. With no real linebacking experience Schwartz and linebackers coach Ken Flajole transformed them into serviceable linebackers. Who’s to say they can’t do the same for Taylor?
Then again, Grugier-Hill was a former sixth round pick and Gerry was a fifth rounder, was it worth wasting a third round pick on a guy who has the upside to be a difference making linebacker at the NFL level? If this were to happen in a vacuum I’d agree – the upside to his game is better than the upside to other defensive players on the board at the time. The reality is the Eagles dug themselves into a hole by making a controversial second round pick. Mortgaging a second round pick with a back-up quarterback and following it up with a high ceiling, low floor linebacking prospect with only 24 games of PAC-12 experience isn’t necessarily a recipe for success.
If all pans out Taylor could be a weapon on the defense for years to come, if he doesn’t it’ll be another in a long-line of failed linebackers in recent Eagles memory.
