DeKalon Taylor only got to show Colorado football fans a glimpse of what he’s capable of last season.
The former Incarnate Word transfer flashed his explosiveness and caught a TD in his first two games as a Buff, but he suffered a season-ending injury in Week 4. In three full games at the Power 4 level, Taylor averaged 6.1 yards per carry and caught 10 passes for 106 yards.
He’s arguably the most versatile player on the Colorado football team.
“DT (DeKalon Taylor) is pretty much all purpose,” Colorado running backs coach Johnnie Mack said Tuesday. “He’s gonna do everything he can. He can catch, he can run, he can give it to you however you want it.”
Back fully healthy for his senior campaign, Taylor is set up for a big year.
New offensive coordinator Brennan Marion brought his Go-Go offense to Colorado with him and according to Mack, the scheme “is built for running backs to have success.” Marion’s offense averaged 262 rushing yards at Sac State last season (first in Big Sky) and 251 rushing yards at UNLV in 2024 (school’s most in 45 years).
DeKalon Taylor should benefit from this innovative run scheme that uses a lot of misdirection, but Marion and Mack should also benefit from a player with Taylor’s game-breaking speed.
“It’s a perfect fit for him,” Mack said of DeKalon Taylor’s fit in the Go-Go offense. “It’s more like a duo where he gets the opportunity to read several keys on defense, not dictating him and telling him to go one way; he can go different ways. Putting a guy like that with that type of speed in that position is favorable to him.
“He’s blessed to be able to go out in his senior year and be in this style of offense that’s should elevate his game compared to last year. He just has to stay healthy, continue to work and he should have a successful year.”
Mack says Colorado will use a lot of 21 personnel (two running backs) which should allow Marion to pair more of a traditional RB with Taylor’s unique skillset.
Since 2023 when Marion became UNLV’s OC, he hasn’t had a RB catch more than 15 passes in a season. DeKalon Taylor had 10 in just three games last season and he provides Marion with a pass-catching option out of the backfield that he hasn’t had in recent years.
The Longview, Texas native began his college career at Incarnate Word as a wide receiver and those skills are still very much with him. More importantly, Taylor has emerged as a team leader in his second year with the Buffs.
“He’s already a leader for us and man, he’s just a student of the game,” Mack said of Taylor. “That guy loves football, man. I have to tell him to go home because he’ll stay up here all day. He’s always continually trying to learn.
“I wish I could have a team full of DTs (DeKalon Taylors). If we had a team full of DTs, man, we’d win the national championship.”
Taylor is just one of two returning scholarship RBs from last season which makes him the elder statesman in the room. Former Alabama RB Richard Young (5-foot-11, 210 pounds) looks like he plays a different sport than Taylor (5-foot-9, 165 pounds), but “Trackhawk” has quickly impressed his new teammate.
“DT (DeKalon Taylor) is a humble, hardworking person,” Young said Tuesday. “He brings the juice every day. He pushes me to be great, even though he’s a little bit faster than me, but I try to catch up when I can.
“We compete when we do drills and everything like that, in the weight room, on the field, off the field. We try to find things where we can compete and not just not only with DT, that’s all the running backs.”
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