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Rod Taylor (American football)

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Rod Taylor
Personal information
Born: (1994-10-26) October 26, 1994 (age 30)
Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.[1]
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:320 lb (145 kg)
Career information
High school:Callaway
(Jackson, Mississippi)
College:Ole Miss (2014–2017)
Position:Offensive lineman
NFL draft:2018 / round: 7 / pick: 252
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Roderick Taylor (born October 26, 1994) is an American professional football offensive lineman who is a free agent. Highly recruited out of Callaway High School, he played college football for the Ole Miss Rebels, where he was a part-time starter in his first three years and a full-time starter as a senior. He was selected in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. He has also been a member of the XFL's Team 9, DC Defenders, and Vegas Vipers, although he only saw playing time with the Defenders.

Early life

[edit]

Roderick Taylor was born on October 26, 1994.[2] He grew up in Jackson, Mississippi[3] and attended Callaway High School, at which he played football, basketball, and ran track.[4] He was a very highly regarded offensive lineman for the school, being ranked as high as the top guard recruit nationally by one source.[5] As a junior he was named The Clarion-Ledger All-Metro and second-team Class 5A All-State, and as a senior Taylor received numerous honors after posting over 100 pancake blocks with no sacks allowed.[4] He was an Under Armour All-American,[6] first-team All-State, MaxPreps All-American, Medium School All-American and All-Metro selection, and helped Callaway win a school-record 14 games while also earning selection to The Clarion-Ledger's Dandy Dozen and Targeted 22 lists, the latter of which he placed first on.[4]

Taylor was the consensus top-ranked player in the state, a five-star prospect, and the 25th-best ranked player nationally according to 247Sports.[4] Although for a while it was believed that he would commit to play college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide, he ended up changing to Ole Miss after coach Jeff Stoutland left.[7][8]

College career

[edit]

As a freshman at Ole Miss in 2014, Taylor appeared in all 13 games.[9] He posted his first career start on November 8 against Presbyterian, appearing as their right guard after an injury to Laremy Tunsil.[10] Taylor started one further game on the season, while earning his first varsity letter.[9]

Taylor was expected to become a full-time starter as a sophomore in 2015, but was hampered by an injury suffered in a non-football activity shortly before the season.[9][11] Despite this, he was still able to appear in 10 games, two of which he started.[9] In 2016, Taylor earned a starting role at left tackle.[12] He was limited by injuries, however, and only started seven out of 13 games, while appearing in a further two.[13][14]

After going through several injuries in the prior seasons, Taylor remained healthy as a senior in 2017 and started all 12 games at right tackle.[15] He finished his college career with 44 games played, 23 of which he started.[16] Taylor was named an honorable mention on The Clarion-Ledger's Ole Miss 2010s All-Decade team.[17]

Professional career

[edit]
Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split Vertical jump Broad jump Wonderlic
6 ft 3 in
(1.91 m) 		320 lb
(145 kg) 		N/A N/A 5.24 s 1.78 s 3.03 s 30.5 in
(0.77 m)		 N/A N/A
All values from the NFL Scouting Combine.[18]

Cincinnati Bengals

[edit]

Taylor was one of four Ole Miss players to be invited to the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine.[19] He was not a highly ranked prospect with scouts citing doubts relating to his maturity, body control, lack of length and motivation,[20][21] although he improved his draft stock with an impressive combine performance, including a 5.24 second 40-yard dash.[22][23] The majority of sources projected him to be a 7th-round draft pick or an undrafted free agent.[15] He ended up being selected by the Cincinnati Bengals, in the 7th round, with the 252nd pick of the 2018 NFL draft.[24][25][26]

However, Taylor suffered a torn ACL in training camp and ended up missing the entirety of his rookie season.[27] He was waived during the following season's training camp, on June 10, 2019.[28] While a free agent in September, he was suspended for four games by the NFL, believed to be for violating the rules on performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).[29] On October 19, after the suspension ended, he received another, this time for ten games.[29] At the end of December, Taylor received an indefinite ban from the league.[30]

XFL

[edit]

In 2020, Taylor was a member of Team 9, which functioned as the practice squad of the XFL.[31] He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10.[32]

After then spending two years out of professional football, Taylor was signed by the DC Defenders of the XFL on January 19, 2023.[33] He made the team's final roster.[34] He was ejected from their game against the St. Louis BattleHawks after being involved in a fight, and was fined by the league for it.[35][36] After having appeared in three games for the Defenders, one as a starter,[37] he was waived; however, Taylor was claimed off waivers by the Vegas Vipers on March 13.[38] He was released on April 14, without appearing in a game.[38]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Rod Taylor Stats, News, Bio". ESPN.
  2. ^ "Rod Taylor Stats". Pro Football Archives.
  3. ^ Smith, Courtney (May 1, 2018). "Ole Miss' Rod Taylor brings versatility and depth to Bengals' offensive line". The Rebel Walk.
  4. ^ a b c d Jones, Joey (February 9, 2014). "Ole Miss Football 2014 Signing Class". University of Mississippi.
  5. ^ Walker, Rod (July 11, 2013). "Big Taylor nimble too". Clarion-Ledger. p. C1, C3 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  6. ^ "Taylor selected for Under Armour All-American Game". Yahoo!. October 23, 2013.
  7. ^ "Callaway's Rod Taylor spurns Alabama for Ole Miss". USA Today. July 11, 2013.
  8. ^ Kellenberger, Hugh (February 6, 2014). "Class Breakdown". Clarion-Ledger. p. D3 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  9. ^ a b c d Ostendorf, Greg (August 31, 2016). "A motivated, more mature Rod Taylor wins the Ole Miss LT job". ESPN.
  10. ^ Kellenberger, Hugh (November 7, 2014). "Ex-Callaway standout Rod Taylor in starting lineup". Clarion-Ledger. p. C4 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  11. ^ Ostendorf, Greg (August 13, 2015). "Ole Miss OL Rod Taylor injured in non-football activity". ESPN.
  12. ^ Paulling, Daniel (August 28, 2016). "Freeze Confident In New Left Tackle: Taylor quickly moves into lineup". Clarion-Ledger. p. D1, D2 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  13. ^ Owczarski, Jim (April 28, 2018). "Bengals' seventh round (252): Rod Taylor, guard, Mississippi". The Cincinnati Enquirer.
  14. ^ Judis, Patrick (July 29, 2018). "Rod Taylor is a low-risk addition who could end up paying off". CincyJungle.com.
  15. ^ a b Marcum, Jason (June 6, 2018). "Assessing the value the Bengals got in Ole Miss OL Rod Taylor". CincyJungle.com.
  16. ^ Potter, Davis (February 6, 2018). "Four former Ole Miss players to participate in NFL combine". The Oxford Eagle.
  17. ^ Suss, Nick (December 22, 2019). "Ole Miss football: The All-Decade football team for the 2010s". Clarion-Ledger.
  18. ^ "Rod Taylor NFL Combine Stats". NFLCombineResults.com.
  19. ^ Morales, Antonio (March 1, 2018). "Ole Miss' Breeland Speaks, Rod Taylor continue their journeys together at the NFL Combine". Clarion-Ledger.
  20. ^ Lohmar, Jim (April 28, 2018). "Cincinnati Bengals select Rod Taylor in final round of 2018 NFL Draft". Red Cup Rebellion.
  21. ^ Miller, Matt (April 28, 2018). "Rod Taylor NFL Draft 2018: Scouting Report for Cincinnati Bengals' Pick". Bleacher Report.
  22. ^ Morales, Antonio (April 28, 2018). "Ole Miss tackle Rod Taylor picked by the Cincinnati Bengals in 7th round of NFL draft". Clarion-Ledger.
  23. ^ Morales, Antonio (April 29, 2018). "Haynes, Wilkins Taylor are selected". Hattiesburg American. p. C3 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  24. ^ Roling, Chris (May 1, 2018). "Rod Taylor is Bengals' seventh-round pick to watch for final roster". USA Today.
  25. ^ Richlinski, Rachel (July 6, 2018). "Jackson native Rod Taylor preps for Bengals training camp". WLBT.
  26. ^ Potter, Davis (April 28, 2018). "Cincinnati Bengals take Ole Miss' Rod Taylor in seventh round of NFL Draft". The Oxford Eagle.
  27. ^ Levine, Ben (July 28, 2018). "Bengals' OL Rod Taylor Tears ACL". Pro Football Rumors.
  28. ^ "Bengals Sign John Jerry, Waive Rod Taylor". Cincinnati Bengals. June 10, 2019.
  29. ^ a b Levine, Ben (October 19, 2019). "FA OL Rod Taylor Suspended 10 Games". Pro Football Rumors.
  30. ^ Links, Zachary (December 31, 2019). "NFL Bans Rod Taylor". Pro Football Rumors.
  31. ^ Lombardo, Brian (January 31, 2020). "XFL Releases Team 9 Roster, Joe Callahan, Taivon Jacobs Among Names". XFLNewsHub.com.
  32. ^ Condotta, Bob (April 10, 2020). "XFL suspends operations, terminates all employees, but Jim Zorn says he has hopes league will continue". The Seattle Times.
  33. ^ Mitchell, Mike (January 22, 2023). "D.C. Defenders Add Five New Players, Release Six Others As XFL Teams Enter Second Phase Of Training Camp". XFLNewsHub.com.
  34. ^ Burke, Aidan (February 11, 2023). "Breaking Down the D.C. Defenders' 51-Man Roster". XFLBoard.com.
  35. ^ McCarriston, Shanna (March 6, 2023). "XFL brawl: Three players ejected during Defenders-BattleHawks showdown in final minute of game". CBS Sports.
  36. ^ "XFL Issues Suspensions and Fines for Playing Rules Violations". OurSportsCentral.com. March 7, 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  37. ^ "Rod Taylor Stats". The Football Database.
  38. ^ a b "XFL Transactions". XFL. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
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