Keith Taylor NFL Draft 2021: Scouting Report for Carolina Panthers CB

HEIGHT: 6'2 1/4"

WEIGHT: 187

POSITIVES

—Quick feet in press and smooth backpedal in off coverage.

—Plays with a good burst and shows recovery speed downfield.

—Uses size to match up against bigger receivers.

—Good ball skills. Plays through hands with good timing.

                       

NEGATIVES

—Rounds his breaks at times.

—Tackling inconsistency.

—Needs to improve strength. Average striking ability.

2020 STATISTICS

3 Games: 9 Tackles, 1 PBU

NOTES

2020: Opted out of all but three games in the 2020 season

OVERALL

Taylor is a versatile corner with ideal length. He showed the ability to play out wide and in the slot, covering in-line tight ends. He shows the physicality to play close to the line of scrimmage, along with above-average blitzing. He's a willing tackler but shows inconsistency with his angles and tackle security. Taylor performs well in man coverage, with very good recovery speed and the ball skills to get his head around and play the ball. He also does well in zones, where he can get his eyes on the quarterback and see routes develop.

Overall, Taylor has the ideal size for cornerback in the NFL, but he still needs to get stronger and work his technique at the line. He flashed some good things at the Senior Bowl; that may have been enough to bump him up some teams.

GRADE: 7.2/10 (Career Backup/Rotational Player—Round 4)

OVERALL RANK: 136/300

POSITION RANK: CB17

PRO COMPARISON: Antonio Cromartie

Written by B/R NFL Scout Cory Giddings