{"id":112255,"date":"2021-04-27T16:41:40","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T20:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=112255"},"modified":"2025-09-25T12:04:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T16:04:13","slug":"keith-taylor-2021-nfl-draft-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2021\/04\/27\/keith-taylor-2021-nfl-draft-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"2021 NFL Draft: Keith Taylor Player Profile"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keith Taylor 2021 NFL Draft Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

Position<\/b>: Cornerback
\n<\/span>Height: <\/b>6\u2019-3\u201d
\n<\/span>Weight: <\/b>195 pounds
\n<\/span>School<\/b>: Washington<\/span><\/p>\n

More 2021 NFL Draft Profiles<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Keith Taylor 2021 NFL Draft Profile<\/h2>\n

From Servite High School in Anaheim, Keith Taylor was a highly-touted four-star recruit who had offers from various PAC-12 programs, including Utah, Oregon, and Washington. <\/span>The 59th ranked recruit in California in the class of 2017<\/span>, Taylor ultimately chose to play for Chris Peterson and the Washington Huskies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the reasons that Keith Taylor most likely went to Washington was their proven development of defensive backs, including Sidney Jones who was drafted in the second round in 2016. However, with this fact also came the difficulty of gaining consistent playing time on defense. As a freshman, Taylor did not receive many snaps on defense with five future NFL players in the secondary. The secondary was headlined by Byron Murphy and Taylor Rapp, but Jojo McIntosh, Jordan Miller, and Myles Bryant were also on NFL rosters at some point. Despite this depth, Taylor did play on special teams for 12 games and appeared on defense for five, posting eight tackles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The following season, Taylor was destined for a larger role on defense. With the boundary corners all but set, Taylor played in Nickel and Dime packages in the slot, defending tight ends and slot receivers with his solid frame. He played in all 14 games, but just eight on defense, and had three passes defended and 1.5 tackles for loss. With his physicality and frame, Taylor did struggle a fair share in the slot, setting up his transition to a boundary corner in his junior season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2019 turned out to be the most productive season in Keith Taylor\u2019s career. He finally earned the opportunity to move to his natural position, a boundary corner. But, Taylor still played a decent number of snaps in the slot. He had a career-high five passes defended, 59 tackles, and two tackles for loss. Taylor\u2019s tackling also improved when he gained more playing time, often securing tackles out on the edge in the run game. He had an excellent bowl game against Boise State, defending two passes and finishing with three tackles. Finally, in his senior season, Taylor played in four games in the shortened PAC-12 season.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a whole, Taylor had a solid career at Washington, displaying his speed and physicality in man coverage and versatility with his excellent size at the cornerback position. However, there were a few disappointing aspects in Taylor\u2019s college career. First, he did not have an interception at Washington, which could be indicative of his ball skills at the next level. He also didn\u2019t always take advantage of his frame in college as he didn\u2019t consistently play press, often giving up “free” receptions. Finally, Taylor declared for the NFL Draft, forgoing his final year of eligibility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Strengths<\/h3>\n