Leonard Taylor III NFL Draft 2024: Scouting Report for New York Jets DL

HEIGHT: 6'4"

WEIGHT: 303

HAND: 9"

ARM: 33⅞"

WINGSPAN: 80⅝"

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40-YARD DASH: 5.12

3-CONE: 7.81

SHUTTLE:

VERTICAL: 30"

BROAD: 9'1"

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POSITIVES

— Good get-off, quick to react to the snap and accelerates off the ball well, allowing him to occasionally get penetration off the snap.

— Strong and physical at the point of attack against the run. Has little to no issue getting extension against offensive linemen and can gain control of the block.

— Has good quickness for his size to help make offensive linemen miss against the run and help win as a pass-rusher.

— Shown a few solid pass-rush moves he can win with like an arm over, stick, club-by and hand swipe.

— Good pass-rush motor to get coverage sacks.

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NEGATIVES

— Pad level out of his stance is inconsistent and often too high, causing him issues against double-teams and when bull-rushing.

— Drops his hands when rushing the passer, limiting how frequently he wins with finesse moves as a pass-rusher.

— Needs to finish pass-rush moves with a stronger rip to keep offensive linemen from hanging onto him and get more clean wins.

— Shaky gap discipline against the run. Will pop his gap early and leave his assignment before the running back commits.

— Underwhelming production.

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2023 STATISTICS

— 10 G, 19 TOT, 3.5 TFL, 1.0 SK

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NOTES

— Born May 29, 2003

— 5-star recruit in 2021 class, per 247Sports

— Injuries: 2023 (Undisclosed, missed all spring practices), 2022 (Foot, left one game early)

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OVERALL

Leonard Taylor III's 2022 tape was better than this past season's, as it looks like he put on some extra weight. That helped him at the point of attack against the run but has come at the detriment of his quickness and athleticism.

With that being said, his movement skills are still at least solid, and he did start to return to form at the end of the year as he got in better shape.

Overall, Taylor has the potential to be a fairly complete player. He has a good frame, is hard to move with one-on-one blocks against the run and has shown a few pass-rush moves he can win with. His biggest flaw is his pad level, which is the primary cause of many of his issues. When the Hurricane does keep his pads down, he's hard to block and very disruptive.

Schematically, Taylor would be best as a 3-technique in even fronts but could play as a 4i-tech for an odd-front team if need be.

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GRADE: 6.8 (Potential Role Player/Contributor — 4th Round)

OVERALL RANK: 102

POSITION RANK: DL10

PRO COMPARISON: Javon Hargrave

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Written by B/R NFL Scout Matt Holder

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