2022 Chiefs Draft Prospect: Alontae Taylor

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NAME: Alontae Taylor

POSITION: Cornerback

SCHOOL: Tennessee

HEIGHT: 6′

WEIGHT: 195 pounds

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CAREER BACKGROUND

Originally from Winchester, Tennessee, Alontae Taylor moved about 30 minutes away to Manchester, Tennessee in fourth grade. He later attended Coffee County Central High School in Manchester. Taylor grew up playing basketball and baseball, in addition to football. However, he focused solely on football following his freshman year of high school. Taylor played quarterback all four years of his high school football career. In total, he tallied 8,225 yards of offense and 75 touchdowns at Coffee County Central.

During his senior high school football season in 2017, Taylor earned Region 3-6A Athlete of the Year honors. He also made the 2017 TSWA Class 6A All-State team that season. After the season, the passer played in the 2017 Toyota East West TN Football All-Star Classic, as well as the 2018 Under Armour All-American Game. Taylor was rated as a four-star recruit and was a consensus top 10 recruit coming out of the state of Tennessee. He would ultimately end up deciding to play football at the University of Tennessee.

Position Change

After joining the Tennessee Volunteers’ program, Alontae Taylor began to work at the wide receiver position in spring ball after being an early enrollee. This proved to be short lived. As the start of games neared for his freshman season in 2018, Taylor made the transition to cornerback.

It did not take him too long to find his footing on the defensive side of the football. For instance, Taylor became the school’s first true freshman defensive back to start a season opener since Cameron Sutton in 2013. He played in all 12 games in 2018, while making eight starts. He recorded 40 tackles, two pass breakups, two forced fumbles, one tackle for loss and one blocked kick that season.

During Taylor’s sophomore season in 2019, he again appeared in every game (13), while making six starts. His role became more defined late in the year. At the same time, Tennessee finished their season tremendously during that stretch with him back in a starting role. Taylor would finish with 33 tackles, three pass breakups and one interception.

Going Out With A Bang

His 2020 junior season proved to be a different challenge. No one knew what to expect inside the new environment college football was in with the COVID pandemic. In addition, Taylor battled a hamstring injury throughout much of the season. That forced him to miss two games. However, the cornerback still appeared in eight contests and made five starts. Taylor tallied 29 tackles, five passes defended, two tackles for loss and one interception. More impressively, he did not allow a single touchdown during 234 coverage snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.

2021 was easily Taylor’s most productive season at Tennessee. Over the course of his senior season, he set new single season career highs in tackles (60), pass breakups (six) and interceptions (two). One of those interceptions produced the lone defensive touchdown of his college career. Finally, Taylor added one forced fumble in 2021.

Afterwards, the Tennessee product was invited to the 2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. It was a solid week for him overall. To cap it off, Taylor recorded an interception in the Senior Bowl game on Saturday afternoon.

SCOUTING REPORT

Instead of listing positives and negatives for traits, this year we will be listing the best trait of each prospect and work our way down to the biggest area of improvement/absent trait(s), from top to bottom.

Competitiveness

Taylor loves to get in the face of opposing pass catchers. It not only helps to disrupt opponents early in their route, but it also gives the cornerback more instilled confidence. That is extremely crucial to have at this particular defensive position. Maintaining a fresh mind and shallow memory bank throughout games helps so much. And for the most part, Taylor shows a solid feel for that. That is impressive, given his small amount of time spent at the position. Taylor can create frustration in many aspects for a defense. Yet, his fierceness and tenacious style at the catch point and near the line of scrimmage stand out immediately.

Coverage Skills

Ideally, Taylor may have more overall comfort in man coverage, as things currently stand. He is sufficient and effective as a press man coverage corner. Not only can he disrupt routes early as we mentioned above. On top of that, Taylor is able to flip his hips quickly and carry routes all the way down the field. He has shown a great understanding of coverage spacings, landmarks and body positioning.

In off-man coverage, Taylor is able to flash suddenness and speed when working downhill. There is still more polish needed in those moments. For example, getting out of his backpedal more cleanly on occasion is needed at the next level against NFL level speed. Taylor is still very urgent when working downhill or when playing balls in front of him, though.

Despite his success in man coverage, one should not discredit Taylor’s improvements in zone coverage. Showing an ability to adjust in space has flashed more often. To boot, Taylor has become more comfortable in tight areas and when needing to gain early leverage on larger receivers.

Athleticism

There is little to no stiffness in this defender’s game. The combination of change of direction skills, flexibility and lateral mobility that Taylor possesses will serve him well as a younger player making the transition to the NFL game. On the flip side, his spatial awareness appeared to be steadily improving throughout his time at Tennessee. It is easy to see how fluid he is while in coverage, which is major against different sizes of opposing receivers. That is largely due to the long speed, foot fire and click and close ability of Taylor.

Length

Length at the cornerback position is obviously highly coveted by NFL teams. You either have it, or you don’t. There is a bit of sneakiness to Taylor’s game in this area, however. He uses quick, subtle jabs to attempt to frustrate opposing receivers at the line of scrimmage. The same kind of temperament is used when carrying routes down the field. But most of all, Taylor adds much more force when extending his arms at the catch point.

Versatility

Taylor played the majority of his snaps at the outside cornerback spot for Tennessee. Notably, he was not limited to playing on just one side of the field like some college cornerbacks are. Taylor was able to gain more experience while playing in the slot in recent years too. His mirroring ability in coverage is steady in each spot. While most people will focus on his stats or results at each spot, the growth in different coverages is what pops in this area. He proved that he could handle any coverage concept for the Volunteers. That is a trait that should suit him well, as Taylor gains more seasoning and coaching at the next level.

Football IQ

It was impressive how little, if ever, that Taylor actually bit on double moves or pump fakes from the opposing offense. His read and react ability is quite well-rounded for a player who is still early on in playing the cornerback position. This is mainly on plays where he is working downhill. Elsewhere, more fine tuning will be needed against passes in the deeper portions of the field. There can occasionally be moments where Taylor is late to find the football in those areas. The same can be said for his adjustments at the catch point, especially if he is unable to infuse his physicality.

Ball Skills

I would not say that Taylor is incapable of playing the football consistently at the catch point. There is just more comfort and confidence when working against routes downhill. You see him jump throwing lanes and routes with plays like this.

Free cookies sound so much better when it includes a @Vol_Football touchdown 🍪 Alontae Taylor to the end zone 🙌 pic.twitter.com/xauAmwxTHL

— 104-5 The Zone (@1045TheZone) November 7, 2021

Less often, there are results for Taylor in the deeper areas so far. A lot of that is once again attributed to late reactions and more polish needed on adjustments when looking to find the football. More growth will serve him well in this area. However, the technique and athleticism combination could allow for plenty of chances at making plays on the football early on at the NFL level.

Tackling

There are many items to improve upon in this area for Taylor. First off, he is generally too high when coming in to make the tackle. Lowering that strike zone would be a great start. Taylor does not come in with much force either. This allows for ball carriers or pass catchers to bounce off of contact easier than what you would hope for. Lastly, Taylor often loses his balance and base early on during the tackle attempt. There is basically nothing to support him when that occurs.

CHIEFS FIT

There are a few items that make Alontae Taylor an initial fit with the Kansas City Chiefs. His ability to press at the line of scrimmage, quick transitions in zone coverage, physicality and length would certainly appeal to the style that the team has gravitated towards in recent years. The team has also had specific success on cornerbacks who are projects or unfinished products.

That is not to say that Taylor does not provide a significant impact in many areas. However, he has an opportunity to add more experience at the position. Taylor’s path of steady growth from reserve role to trustable starter in college could be something similar to what he could slide into with a contender like the Chiefs.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs draft prospect profiles throughout this winter and spring. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.