Prospect profile: Baylor DT Phil Taylor

Prospect profile: Phil Taylor

NFL position: DT

Height: 6-4

Weight: 337

40 time: 5.26

Current projection: Third-round pick

Strengths: Is a massive player with the ideal build for a 3-4 nose tackle. Is a good athlete for such a big man. Has shown the ability to change directions quickly to beat one-on-one pass blocks with a good ?slap and arm over? move. When he bull-rushes aggressively, he can drive offensive linemen into the quarterback?s lap. Has rare natural strength. When he keeps his knees bent, plays with good base and gets his hands on his opponent first, he can anchor against run blocks, sheds blocks and makes tackles on inside runs. Has the rare size and strength to anchor against double-team run blocks. Has the athleticism to come down the line to make tackles on inside running plays between the tackles.

Weaknesses: Is a raw prospect. Doesn?t consistently rush the passer aggressively, and when he doesn?t, he tends to get high at the snap and ends up pinned at the line of scrimmage. Though he flashes the ability to beat one-on-one pass blocks with good hand use, most of the time he isn?t quick or aggressive with his hands and is a non-factor rushing the QB. Doesn?t consistently maintain good base or leverage against run blocks. Starts off with good leverage but tends to get high during the play. In those cases, he can be sealed and driven off the ball by good run-blocking linemen. Isn?t fast or athletic enough to chase down plays outside the box. Conditioning is an issue, as he tends to wear down in games and doesn?t play with good effort every snap.

Bottom line: Taylor has the size, strength and athleticism to become a very good nose tackle in a 3-4 scheme. But teams should be leery of risking a first- or second-round pick on a player who was almost 400 pounds in 2009 and played poorly because of it. Combine that with his off-field issues at Penn State, where he began his career, and he would be a huge gamble to take high in the draft.

?Russ Lande, War Room scouts

For more than 300 player scouting reports from Lande and his team of former NFL scouts?plus updated Mock Draft, Super 99 rankings and more?go to warroom.sportingnews.com.

baseball news soccer news news read sports news read football news