Should the Chicago Bears draft Davion Taylor from Colorado?
Looking at the Chicago Bears depth chart, it is clear that they are going to need depth at inside linebacker. The team met with Davion Taylor, a linebacker from Colorado who could be available on day three.
Taylor is an exciting player as he hardly played football in high school due to his family’s religious views. Taylor practiced all week, but his religion did not let him play weekend nights. He came out of high school as an unknown and spent two years at Juco. He was excellent there and found his way to Colorado, where he started right away.
Taylor had 12 tackles for loss and 9 pass breakups in two years as a starter. He is raw, but ascending, should he be a target for the Chicago Bears?
Measurables
His size ranges from undersized linebacker to a big safety, but he certainly is explosive. He has enough length to make it in the NFL, and the linebacker position is getting smaller and faster by the year. With that in mind, Taylor has metrics that fit right in with the style of NFL that we are starting to see.
Strengths
His explosion shows on tape. He is twitched up and can move in a hurry. This shows downhill, and his special teams potential cannot be understated. It also shows running the seam with bigger tight ends, but also slot receivers. His size and speed makes him a coverage matchup weapon that is needed for the game today.
Weakness
He is extremely raw at diagnosing and reacting in the run. Colorado typically lined him up outside the box, and often as a slot defender, or extra safety. When he gets in the box, he gets lost. You can see him taking himself out of plays with his elite burst just as much as he comes downhill for punishing blows in that regard.
He is a see-ball, get-ball player, but anticipating and play recognition is going to take time for him.
NFL comparison for Davion Taylor
When you look at the most comparable players by an athletic and physical perspective, you see a group of 38 undersized, but explosive linebackers and safeties. What is interesting to note is that Kevin Pierre-Louis and Joel Iyiegbuniwe both show up as comparable physical profiles.
Below, you can see some of the best comparisons from an NFL application standpoint.
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The comparison to KPL is fair in that we have a fast special teams asset who could step-in as depth if needed. That is precisely what the Bears are looking for. Darron Lee was over-drafted but had similar diagnosing issues, which is why his career has not lived up to expectations. Still, he has been a successful depth piece who has added valuable play for the Chiefs last year. His upside may be a consistent start, such as Baker, but overall he is, a fast, depth linebacker is exactly what you are getting with Taylor, similar to those names.
Fit with Chicago Bears
We all know that the Chicago Bears need depth at linebacker. They lost KPL and Kwiatkoski and have not added much to replace solid depth players and special teams assets. With Davion Taylor having a similar profile to KPL at a younger age, he could be a great replacement. The question is, at what round?
According to an average of all mock drafts, he is going around pick 161. The Bears pick 140 and 163rd. If they are confident in Taylor, they could add him at 140, but the best bet may be to hope that he falls to 163. At that point, he has great value, as he should certainly make the roster and be active on game days due to special teams’ value. Anything on top of that can be a bonus with three picks this year drafted ahead of him.