How CU's Davion Taylor plans to 'shock' the NFL world

INDIANAPOLIS — Davion Taylor is not easily classified.

He’s bulked up to 228 pounds from his listed weight of 220 at Colorado, but that still puts him on the light side among linebackers at the NFL Combine.

He’s working out with the linebackers this weekend, but his college repetitions with the defensive backs in practice and his work as a “STAR” — a melding of an outside linebacker and a safety — puts him into the category of a “hybrid.”

That is a term he embraced when he spoke with DNVR’s Henry Chisholm last season.

Last month at the Senior Bowl, Taylor worked at inside linebacker, a position at which he could find himself if he lands in a 3-4 scheme.

But there’s one thing that translates, no matter where he lines up:

Speed.

In the last 20 NFL Combines, just 26 players who projected as 4-3 linebackers or 3-4 inside linebackers posted 40-yard dash times below 4.50 seconds.

Taylor’s goal when he runs Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium is to make it 27.

“I’m just ready to shock the draft,” he said.

Taylor said that his best 40-yard dash time is 4.45 seconds, which he clocked between his freshman and sophomore seasons at Coahoma (Miss.) Community College.

But he’s come a long way since 2017. First there’s his size; Taylor said he was 210 pounds when he hit that personal best; now he’s 18 pounds heavier.

Then there’s Taylor’s knowledge of the game. He didn’t play a down of high-school football due to his family’s religious beliefs, so he was playing catch-up.

“I didn’t even know what the A-gap or B-gap was,” he said. “But they saw my work ethic and that I wanted to learn and they said, ‘We can work with this guy.’”

In the four years that followed at Coahaoma and CU, he grew to understand the intricacies of the game. By last month at the Senior Bowl, he was able to relay the defensive calls and help make pre-snap adjustments, getting that responsibility when he moved to inside linebacker.

“It taught me a lot because I had to call the defensive fronts,” Taylor said. “I had to make sure everybody was right. Going to inside linebacker, it also taught me my weaknesses. I learned that I can’t let the guard get his hands on me before I get my hands on them.

“So it taught me that, and my strength was that I realized that I was fast. My speed helped me a lot when it came to shooting the gap.”

Taylor’s speed is apparent on the film. If he has the number he wants to back it up, his draft prospects should soar.

And to top it off,  Taylor oozes untapped potential. Just four years into his football journey, he’s still developing his knowledge of the game’s intricacies.

“I still have so much more to learn,” he said. “The more I learn, the better I get.”