NFL Draft 2020 Scouting Report: DT Calvin Taylor, Kentucky (QH)

*DL grades can and will change as more information comes in from Pro Day workouts, leaked Wonderlic test results, etc. We will update ratings as new info becomes available.

Our Quick Hit (QH) scouting reports are a modified/shorter version of our full-scale reports. On these Quick Hits, I look at a lesser amount of tape and write a shorter amount of flowy words – these are usually designed more for sleeper prospects that I want to get more acquainted with and if something really jumps out, I’ll go deeper. It’s just me trying to get in and get out and deliver the pertinent notes to you for your consideration and for review later if they start to make waves in a year or two. 

I’ll do a chunk of these pre-Draft and then more all post-Draft going through the players that caught my attention in the draft (because of how high they were taken) or that I stumble across in training camp or the preseason that catch my eye.

Most of my notes on these Quick Hits will be short and sweet bullet points versions of our full-scale report outs. Enjoy…

============================

So, I see a 6’8”/310 DT prospect prowling around the SEC and it looks like he can move really well…and he was 2nd in the SEC in sacks in 2019 – and I was left wondering…how is he not at the Senior Bowl or NFL Combine? Let’s find out why, and if there is a sweet sleeper here…

BACKGROUND…

 -- 6’8.2”/310

 -- Underrecruited for college football due to being a coveted high school basketball player, and it was assumed he was going to college to play basketball.

 -- Agricultural Economics graduate.

 -- No Senior Bowl or NFL Combine invite. Pro Day cancelled.

 -- 2nd in the SEC in sacks in 2019 season – pretty eyebrow raising for a 6’8”/300+ DT/DE.

TAPE AND RANDOM NOTES…

 -- Played 4-3 DT mostly in the games I watched, but also played some 3-4 DE.

 -- Obvious ‘reach’ ability for his position…he can really get to/grab things and has the ability to bat down passes (4 PDs in 2019).

 -- He looks a little tentative moving around as a 4-3 DT, but I think it’s a bit of an optical illusion…he’s so nimble for 6’8”/310 it seems he’s fragile when he might be graceful (at a non-graceful filled position). Has some DeForest Buckner in him. 

 -- His best attribute…he can slither between lineman, find cracks to leak through with the best of them. His basketball background has him nimbler than most DTs or anyone his size. He has a real ability to move through tight spaces for his size. 

 -- He can flat out fly (for a DT) when he has unencumbered access to the QB. He’s usually gummed up in the interior moving around bodies, as most DTs are every play, but when Taylor gets to really open up/head straight at the QB…he looks like he is shot out of a cannon. Amazing for his size. 

 -- He gives good effort most every play. You’ll see him moving towards/chasing plays that went away from him and sometimes it pays off/he catches ballcarriers with his big reach when they cutback towards his way. 

 -- Because of his size and movement ability, you have to give extra juice to his NFL Draft grades as a potential offensive tackle conversion. Came into Kentucky as an OL prospect in 2015 but moved to DT in 2016 and then worked as a DT/DE in 2018-2019.

Calvin Taylor, Through the Lens of Our DT Scouting Algorithm:

 -- Just 2.0 sacks from 2015-2018, in his first 21 career games…but then 8.5 sacks in 2019, 2nd-most in the SEC. That’s a pretty hefty total for a 300+ pound D-Line worker (mostly DT). That’s upper-end production among college DTs. 

 -- Of the top 2020 NFL Draft DT prospects, who weigh 300+ pounds, Taylor had the most sacks among them in 2019.

 -- #3 in the SEC in forced fumbles (3).

2020 Pre-Draft Measurables:

6’8.2”/310

No other measurables available. Pro Day cancelled. 

The Historical DT Prospects to Whom Calvin Taylor Most Compares Within Our System:

There’s really not a player/prospect quite like Taylor in our system at the DT position. When you consider Kpassagnon, he was a bit of a freak prospect from the FCS level everyone usually gets enraptured by…’raw’ but had everyone intrigued – enough to where he went in the 2nd-round of his draft. The thing is…Taylor is better than he is/was, but he won’t get the same attention.

How the NFL draft analysis works – had Taylor never played college football, but played basketball, but then declared for the NFL Draft as a basketball-to-football convert for draft season – everyone would probably be freaking out (in a good way) with ‘the possibilities’. Instead, Taylor didn’t get a Senior Bowl or Combine invite, despite racking 8.5 sacks, 2nd-most in the SEC, at a position that doesn’t lend itself to those kinds of numbers. For whatever reason…and possibly, partly because of a boring ‘name’ (yes, that is definitely a thing) – ‘Tanoh Kpassagnon from FCS Villanova’ is more exciting, more mysterious than ‘Calvin Taylor from Kentucky’. 

When they write romance novels, the male lead is named like ‘Jefferson Deveraux’ not ‘Jeff Smith’. Female dancers take on stage names like ‘Cinnamon’ or ‘Jasmine’…not ‘Lefty’ or ‘Booger’. Names evoke thoughts/biases in us…including football scouts and fans…especially on things/people we are not fully aware of. I’d rather my running back-son be named D’Andre Swift than Jonathan Taylor. Any whooo…

*A score of 8.00+ is where we see a stronger correlation of DTs going on to become NFL good/great/elite. A score of 10.00+ is more rarefied air in our system, and indicates a greater probability of becoming an NFL elite DT.

All of the DT ratings are based on a 0–10 scale, but a player can score negative, or above a 10.0 in certain instances.

Power-Strength Metrics = A combination of several measurements. An attempt to classify the DT prospect as more of a battle-in-the-trenches type of DT, and/or a DT prospect who has nose tackle capabilities.

Speed-Agility Metrics = A combination of several speed, agility, size measurements. A unique measuring system to look for DTs who profile for quickness, and/or a DT prospect who might have some DE capabilities.

Pass-Rusher Rating = A combination of physical measurables, and college performance, graded historically for future NFL profiling. In the simplest of terms, this is an attempt to classify whether a particular DT is likely to achieve high sack totals in the NFL. We know the ‘system’/scheme the DT goes on to play in has a part in future success...but so do the player’s skills and performance history.

Tackling Rating = A combination of physical measurables, and college performance, graded historically for future NFL profiling. In the simplest of terms, this is an attempt to classify the DT as one more likely to be involved in a heavy amount of tackles, tackles for a loss, and forced fumbles. Lower scoring DTs in this sub-category tend to be more pure ‘pluggers’, and not as active on the stat sheet. It also gives some insight of the ‘toughness’ of a player, if it is possible to quantify that (this is our attempt to).

NT Profile = This is an attempt to show which of these DT prospects has a profile to become a pure nose tackle/‘space-eater’ in the middle. It is not a 1–10 scale rating of a prospect’s skill/profile, it’s an attempt to point us in a direction of what this DT can be useful as (or not). Some DT prospects will grade off the charts on the NT profile, essentially a worst-case scenario of “put him in the middle and just let him be a wall.” There is NFL value in that ‘ability’.

2020 NFL Draft Outlook:

Should be drafted…should be drafted top 100 overall on ‘raw’ tools and size alone -- but without the Senior Bowl or Combine nods, he’ll likely be a 6th-7th-round overlooked pick with no fanfare headed to his new NFL team. He flashed more than most SEC D-Line guys, PLAYING IN THE SEC, and yet he cannot get the time of day right now. It’s a shame. 

If I were an NFL GM, he’s on my day three hit list – he’s what the draft is for, finding unique, possibly freak/great players. You can get solid workmen all over the draft and after and in free agency – but guys like Taylor, they deserve a look via the draft, a chance to hit a homerun. 

NFL Outlook:   

Uphill battle as the league is biased to guys who weren’t coveted high school 4+ star recruits. Hopefully a smart team/GM figures this out. 

Enjoy your time with the New England Patriots, Patrick!

4/2/2020