NFL Draft prospect Trey Taylor believes his tenure at Air Force and his time spent learning from his cousin and Baltimore Ravens legend Ed Reed helped shape him as a player and make him unlike any other prospect available in this year’s draft.
The 6-foot, 210-pound safety heads toward the 2024 NFL Draft after a remarkable 2023 season at Air Force. Taylor had 74 tackles, four passes defensed, three interceptions and a pick-six, winning the coveted Jim Thorpe Award for his efforts. Reflecting back on his tenure, Taylor believes he gained more being at Air Force than he would have at a more conventional football program.
“I think that when I made the decision to go to the academy initially, it was more this is the best decision I can make for myself in terms of academics and football,” Taylor said on Glenn Clark Radio April 16. “[Doing] the best I can do in both of those states and also having a solid future for my family in case the NFL didn’t work out well. The four and a half years I spent the academy I realized how much more that the academy experience in the military means to me now, the rest of my family and the whole country.”
Reed, meantime, is Taylor’s cousin through marriage. The connection between Taylor and Reed started long before Taylor’s playing days. Taylor’s father and Reed have been close friends since high school. Reed has been an influential figure in Taylor’s life, and since his retirement from the NFL a decade ago, he has taken a more active role in helping Taylor learn more about the game and build a style he can call his own.
Taylor knows Reed has made a big impact on him.
“Now it makes all the difference,” Taylor said. “I can call him and talk about anything football-wise. He gives me all types of input when it comes down to postgame. We’ll sit down and talk for 30 minutes to an hour just about small things going on — what he saw in the game, what I can fix, things that he did in his game that I can put into mine and just to create a little bit bigger toolbox for me, how he reads things with the quarterback, how he reads things with the receivers, how he reads things with linemen.”
Along the way, Taylor has even picked up some of Reed’s best traits. Taylor believes that he has gotten better at reading a quarterback and breaking on a ball given Reed’s tutelage. Taylor relishes those chances.
“There are some things that he’s shown me with quarterback intentions just in game film that you can see, ‘OK, he did this, this and this for the first three games in the season. He’s not just going to change it up this game because of because of who he’s playing.’ Look at these similarities and attack that weakness that you see,” Taylor said.
Taylor has even grown to learn how to replicate Reed’s trademark ability to bait quarterbacks. He grew to implement that into his play during his junior and senior seasons at Air Force. It paid off.
“If you look at the two interceptions I had my junior year, both those were literally just baiting,” Taylor said. “I was just sitting back, sitting back, scooching back, not even really backpedaling. I was trying to make enough room between me and the receiver for the quarterback to feel comfortable to throw the ball. And as soon as I saw any motion with throwing, I broke as fast as I could and it just worked out.”
Ask Taylor what his greatest strength is and he’ll say it’s his versatility. He prides himself on being able to play anywhere on defense and do so with great impact.
“If you look at some of my games, I play box safety, I’ll play back deep, I’ve played all types of zone concepts, I’ve played all types of man concepts, I was lined up at a defensive end position, I lined up at linebacker,” Taylor said. “I lined up playing my deep half, my deep third, curl flats, weak hooks, and it really doesn’t matter. I’ve played it all. So, I feel like whatever system I go into, I can adapt to whatever they need, and that’s perfect for me.”
While Taylor is more than grateful for the support and knowledge he’s received from Reed, Taylor wants to make it clear that he is not Ed Reed 2.0. Taylor has been shaped by a lot of different factors that have been impactful throughout his life. Taylor now believes he is ready to show the NFL what he can do.
“It’s amazing to have somebody like Ed in my corner. This is amazing, but I want to build my own legacy wherever I go, whether that’s in Baltimore, whatever 32 teams can draft me. I want to build my own game,” Taylor said. “I feel like there’s 100 different things that Ed could do on the field that I couldn’t do, and I also feel like there are things on the field that I can do that Ed can’t. So, I want to bring those strengths with me wherever I go.”
Taylor is choosing to pursue his dream of an NFL career, but he realizes that once he is done with football, he still has his obligations to fill with the Air Force. What those duties may look like are still up in the air for Taylor given the uncertainty of how his NFL career will go, but Taylor still has dreams of becoming a pilot.
“We’re able to go and play for however long we want for as long as we can outside of our commitment with the Air Force, and then the day that we’re done with football we’ll go back into the force and serve for five years.” Taylor said. “… You’ve got to figure some of that stuff out whenever I get back into the service. But whenever that time does come, I’d love to go back and be a pilot.”
For more from Taylor, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Team IFA