Trey Taylor NFL Draft 2024: Scouting Report for Air Force Safety

BR NFL Scouting DepartmentContributor I

Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

HEIGHT: 6’0½”

WEIGHT: 213

HAND: 9¼”

ARM: 31¾”

WINGSPAN: 76½”

40-YARD DASH: 4.59

3-CONE: 6.90

SHUTTLE: 4.13

VERTICAL: 37.5″

BROAD: 10’3″

POSITIVES

— High-IQ player with a good feel for the play, especially in the run game. Works well close to the line of scrimmage.

— Good physicality in the run game. Comes downhill quickly with good leverage. Sorts through trash well to get to the ball.

NEGATIVES

— Poor eye discipline in coverage. Has tunnel vision when deep and lacks special awareness.

— Hip tightness shows up in space, leading to his difficulty in man coverage.

2023 STATISTICS

— 13 G, 74 TOT, 5 TFL, 0.5 SK, 3 INT, 4 PD

NOTES

— Born Jan. 30, 2001

— 36 career starts

— 3-star recruit in the 2019 class, per 247Sports

— Won 2023 Jim Thorpe Award

— 2023 first-team All-Mountain West

— Cousin of Pro Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed

— East-West Shrine Invite

OVERALL

Trey Taylor is an interesting prospect from the Air Force Academy. The 2023 Jim Thorpe Award winner is fresh off a season with a career-high 74 tackles, five tackles for loss and three interceptions.

Taylor does his best work as a run defender. He quickly triggers to what he sees, closing ground on ball-carriers with the proper leverage. Although he tracks the ball well, he loses his angle at times and struggles with open-field tackling.

At the point of contact, Taylor does a good job of wrapping up and running his feet through ball-carriers. When taking on blocks, he comes up but lacks the physicality and strength to shock and shed.

When playing in coverage, Taylor gets his head around to track the ball and has good ball skills. He leaves more to be desired when in zone coverage, though, as he reacts slowly to his threats coming in and out of his zones. When deep, he’s also slow to anticipate, and he tends to wait for the ball in the air before reacting.

Taylor has the high-character makeup that NFL teams are looking at safety. Though he may be a great leader on and off the field, his high football IQ isn’t enough to make up for the negatives in his game. Taylor likely will have to work his way on special teams to stick around in the NFL.

GRADE: 5.6 (Backup/Draftable — 6th-7th Round)

OVERALL RANK: 223

POSITION RANK: S20

PRO COMPARISON: James Wiggins