Leonard Taylor III, IDL Miami: 2024 NFL Draft Profile

Taylor was a five-star recruit from Miami Palmetto Senior High School in Pinecrest, Fla. in the class of 2021

Miami defensive tackle Leonard Taylor III flashed in his limited snaps played last year. The junior could develop into a first round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft if he sees more action this season. Taylor is a dominant athlete with a twitchy and powerful upper body.

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Leonard Taylor III, IDL Miami: 2024 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Junior defensive tackle from Miami, Fla.

Background: Taylor was a five-star recruit from Miami Palmetto Senior High School in Pinecrest, Fla. in the class of 2021. He was the No. 11 recruit according to 247Sports, No. 41 for Rivals (four-star), and No. 8 for On3.com. ESPN ranked him 6th in the nation with a 90 grade out of 100. Taylor began his high school career at Miami Southridge Senior High School before transferring to Miami Palmetto. In 2019, he earned Miami Herald All-Dade 8A-6A First Team honors. As a senior, he was the Warren Henry South Florida Player of The Year. That season, Taylor led Palmetto to the Class 8A semifinals, posting 51 tackles, including 23 tackles for loss, five sacks, three forced fumbles, six passes defended, an interception, and a blocked kick in seven games. He received invitations to the Under Armour All-America Game and the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Taylor played baseball and AAU basketball growing up.

Injuries & Off-Field: Injured in 2022 Bethune-Cookman game, spotted in a boot on the sideline during second half of 2022 Georgia Tech game, missed 2023 spring practices with a shoulder injury

Awards: 2022 Honorable Mention All-ACC

Pros: Appears to have above-average arm length, good ankle and hip flexibility, room to add mass to his lower half, explodes off the line, burst helps him cross the offensive lineman’s face, fits hands into the lineman’s pads and activates leg drive, leg drive to walk linemen back into the pocket, gets skinny to shoot gaps, keeps his chest clean, twitchy upper body, violent hands, good array of hand counters, powerful arm extensions and swipes, rip move, swim move, chains swipes and rips, one or two-handed swipe or club is enough to generate significant separation, flashes of speed to power, acceleration flashes on stunts, athletic wrecking ball who clears a lane for his partner on stunts, redirects to the ball after escaping the initial block, high motor player who works hard in pursuit, re-anchors after giving ground to single blocks and holds his spot at the point of attack, drew plenty of double teams and extra attention vs. North Carolina (2022)

Cons: Lower body is lean for a full-time interior player, seemed to wear down quickly on long drives, pad level is too high at times, needs to add counters to his initial rush for quick wins, struggles to re-ignite rush after he gets bogged down, balance sometimes prevents him from bringing down QBs once he’s in the pocket, doesn’t generate much push in a pile of bodies, gets lost in the crowd of bodies, not a high-upside player against double teams, blown off the line in short-yardage situations, gives ground to the vertical run game, sealed in the run game, stacks and peaks but doesn’t shed consistently

Overview: Taylor is an explosive, freaky athlete along the interior for Miami. He mostly plays 4i, 3-tech, 2-tech, and 2i but sometimes sees snaps at 5-tech and 4-tech. Taylor appears to have above-average arm length and good flexibility in his ankles and hips. There’s room to add mass to his lower half, which will help him hold up better at the point of attack. Taylor explodes off the line with the burst to cross the offensive lineman’s face and change gaps before the lineman can process how much trouble he’s in. The junior defensive lineman fits his hands into his opponent’s pads and uses his powerful leg drive to walk the blocker back into the pocket. Taylor uses his explosiveness to get skinny to shoot gaps for quick wins. He generally keeps his chest clean with his twitchy upper body and violent hands. Taylor has a good array of hand counters, including powerful arm extensions and swipes. He uses rip and swim moves but also chains swipes and rips together. The 2022 All-ACC honorable mention shows flashes of speed to power but is still developing his consistency in this area. His one and two-handed swipes and clubs are strong enough to generate significant separation from offensive linemen. Taylor’s acceleration on stunts turns him into an athletic wrecking ball who clears a lane for his partner. He is a high motor player who works hard in pursuit and redirects to the ball after escaping the initial block. Anchoring at the point of attack will be a long-term question for Taylor, but there are examples of him re-anchoring to stack single blockers after giving ground. The Florida native isn’t a high-upside player against double teams, considering his lower body is a little lean. Defenses sometimes blow him off the line in short-yardage situations, and he gives ground to the vertical run game. Taylor often successfully stacks and peaks blocks but fails to shed the block and bring down the ball carrier. He needs to do a better job of maintaining gap integrity and avoiding being sealed in the run game. As a pass rusher, Taylor’s pad level rises too high at times, which makes his chest more accessible and exposes his trunk to body blows. He still needs to add more counters to his initial rush for quick wins. Taylor struggles to re-ignite his pass rush after he gets bogged down, but he continues to look for opportunities to disengage and redirect to the ball. He doesn’t generate much push in a pile of bodies and gets lost in the crowd. It’s very telling that he drew many double teams across 2022 despite not playing a large number of snaps on a week-to-week basis.

Overall, Taylor is an explosive, powerful defensive lineman with some multi-positional value, but he’s still developing his counters and must become a more consistent defender at the point of attack. Taylor hasn’t played more than 350 defensive snaps in a season yet. More experience could be the key to unlocking his immense potential.

Role & Scheme Fit: Starting penetrating 3-tech

Round Projection: Late First to Early Second

Size: 6'3", 305 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 08-10-23