The Denver Broncos are no strangers to finding talent in the UDFA pool after the draft, and they may have found yet another in Rice wide receiver Jordan Taylor.
Taylor comes from a Rice football program that’s not a powerhouse, nor are they making too many waves at all in the college football world, but they had a couple of interesting NFL prospects this year and Taylor was one of them.
Dane Brugler of CBSSports.com and NFL Draft Scout compared Taylor to Kris Durham, who has carved out a decent NFL career, and says he was a Scouting Combine snub who could make an NFL roster anyway. Our own Dan Armelli identified Taylor as a player that could be one to make the roster as well.
I decided to take a closer look myself at what Taylor brings to the table and how he could challenge for a roster spot, or at worst, a practice squad spot.
Strengths
– Long receiver with wide catch radius
– Great concentration
– Athletic ability
– Long strider, solid deep speed
– Production despite (relatively) poor QB play at times
– Production despite primarily run-oriented offense
– Makes tough catches (and some incredible ones)
– High points the football
– Makes plays after the catch
Weaknesses
– Some rounded off routes
– Concentration drops
– Blocking isn’t great
– Separation off the line?
– Strictly outside flanker?
Film Study
Taylor doesn’t have a ton of film out there like some top receiver prospects in this draft, but he’s got plenty. You can see sort of a trajectory of his career with plenty of growth in certain areas, but one thing remains the same throughout — strong hands, and the ability to make incredible catches.
Translatable Traits
The film is underwhelming but we only get a small piece of the story there. You can see in that game footage that Taylor appears to run rounded off routes, something he’ll need to correct as he transitions to the NFL. However, the most translatable asset he has, in my opinion, would be his strong hands.
Taylor consistently snatches the ball, and he makes tough catches. The next most translatable skill would be speed. He clearly has good deep speed. Take a look at these tapes and you’ll notice he’s burning corners when he gets deep downfield. He might struggle at times to get separation, but when he does and he gets deep down the field, there aren’t going to be many corners that can handle his combination of length, strong hands, and athleticism.
With a wide catch radius, good hands, and speed, I think Taylor’s got a shot to do something at the NFL level.
Injuries kept him from playing the start of the 2014 season and the top competition he would have faced (Notre Dame, Texas A&M) but he showed out big in a few games, proving he has big play ability and is a red zone mismatch.
Overall
Nothing earth shattering about Taylor’s game, but he’s got really good hands. I sifted through the 2012 Armed Forces Bowl to see one of his best performances as a college player, and he didn’t disappoint. Taylor showed the entire package early on in his career, and he developed it as the years went on.
I can see why he received some draftable grades, but in a year where there were a lot of really solid prospect at his position, it’s also not shocking to see why he was undrafted. The Broncos have openings at wide receiver, so perhaps Taylor can wow coaches in camp to earn a spot on the 53-man roster or on the practice squad.