CANEFAN83
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2021 Miami Palmetto (FL) DT Leonard Taylor committed to the Miami Hurricanes today, giving the Hurricanes their second 5-star talent in the class.
The 6-4 255 pounder is currently a consensus 5-star prospect in the national rankings. According to the 247Sports Composite Ranking, Taylor is the #27 player nationally in 2021, the #3 DT in the country, and the #6 player in the Sunshine State. His commitment moved UM’s class ranking on 247Sports up to #8 in the nation and to #9 on Rivals.
Recruiting Story
The Hurricanes were one of the first schools to offer Taylor during his sophomore season in November 2018. From that time, the local product was a regular visitor to Coral Gables over the next year, showing up at pretty much every Miami event he could go to, and many felt that UM was the leader in the clubhouse for Taylor so to speak. In that period, Taylor earned offers from the college football elites, including LSU, Ohio State, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Georgia among others. After Miami’s down season in 2019, Taylor become more open to heading elsewhere for his college career, and that’s when the Florida Gators picked up momentum to land the 5-star talent. He seemingly eliminated Miami in December by releasing a top 5 without the Canes, only for the staff to convince him to show up on campus for UM’s junior day event in January, which ended up being huge due to the school lockdowns that happened just weeks later. After a long battle with the Gators, Taylor to UM finally started pick up steam again in July, which culminated in his announcement in favor of Miami today as the strong relationships Miami built over the years with him and his family won out. Miami is now set to sign two 5-star prospects in the 2021 class with both Taylor and American Heritage (FL) S James Williams. The last time that happened? In 2012, when UM signed RB Duke Johnson and CB Tracy Howard.
The Player
On film, Taylor profiles as a true 5-star talent that is not even close to his ceiling and carries huge growth potential. At 6’4” 255, built more like a defensive end right now, but has the frame to grow into a perfect 3-tech on the DL at the next level. Seeing him up close in-person, Taylor sports a sculpted frame with very little in the way of excess bad weight. Very functional athlete with little wasted movement. Long arms help to disrupt passing lanes, and he is active batting balls down; displays the athleticism on tape to tip a pass to himself and take it back for a score. Can beat an opponent in so many different ways, usually defeating the OL with his hands right out of the gate. A martial arts background growing up has turned him into violent hand-fighter at the point of attack on the field. His length also causes a ton of problems for OL in his pass rush, as he is able to easily create space for himself to work and can disengage quickly even if his opponent locks on him. Quick first step off the snap and converts that speed into power by getting his opponent off balance and then tossing them aside. Must gain more mass to hold up as a run stopper on the interior at the next level. All of this is to say that Taylor is a technically advanced prospect at this stage of his development, and that’s what really takes his game to the next level when you pair that with his obvious physical tools.
Taylor also proved he was a no-doubt, 5-star talent on the camp circuit this spring too. Showed off his diverse skillset against the best competition in South Florida at Under Armour Miami; was whipping and embarrassing his opponent on almost every rep. Worked both inside and outside, and it didn’t matter - he did whatever he wanted. Ultimately, he is one of the best players I’ve personally ever watched at the high school level, something I don’t say lightly.
As a junior in 2019, Taylor was selected first team All-Dade in the class of 8A-6A. Also grew up playing basketball and baseball.
The Class
Taylor becomes the 21st commitment and 3rd defensive tackle in the 2021 class, joining his teammate in Miami Palmetto (FL) 4-star Savion Collins and Chaminade-Madonna (FL) 3-star Allan Haye. With three DT’s now in the class, that would seem to make Miami full at the spot, but with so much talent still on the board that are legitimately interesting in wearing the orange and green, Miami seems to be recruiting with the mindset to take the best available players instead of worrying about positional numbers. That explains why UM has still kept in contact with guys like Terrebonne (LA) 5-star Maason Smith and St. Thomas (FL) 4-star Tyreak Sapp (top 100 overall player nationally), despite Smith being considered a heavy LSU lean and Sapp being a longtime commit to UF. Sapp in particular may not be so set with the Gators, as indicated by releasing a top 5 last month that included Miami, and the STA star has long had an affinity for UM, regularly showing up on campus for visits since his UF commitment. Even though they are considered behind for Smith and Sapp, Miami has not backed down even at times when they seemed completely out of the race for their most recent two 5-star commits. If they decide to keep pushing on either one of Smith or Sapp, who’s to say they can’t pull another surprise again?
The Team
The defensive tackle position at Miami last season was a solid, if unspectacular, group that held the point of attack in run-support, but didn’t make many impact plays in the backfield. Still, the group has untapped potential. Jonathan Ford is a returning starter at one spot that still has room to improve, and he is expected to be joined in the lineup by Nesta Silvera, whom many see as the UM DT with the most potential for a huge season after sitting out most of last year with an injury. Behind them, Jordan Miller showed flashes in very limited playing time in 2019 and looks to take another step forward in his development, while the three redshirt freshmen (Jalar Holley, Jason Blissett, and Jared Harrison-Hunte) will battle it out in camp for the #4 role. True freshman Elijah Roberts is a swingman type DL that is expected to start out at DE before moving to DT sometime down the line.
By the time Taylor arrives in 2021, Ford will be gone, opening up a large spot in the rotation to be filled. All of the other returning players at DT have potential, but haven’t yet proven at this point that they can relied on for a full season of high-level play. So, there will be playing time available for Taylor, and I expect UM to find a role for him. While it’s true he does need to gain more mass to hold up as a three-down guy on the interior, he is versatile enough to be used on the outside as well, and the Canes could move him to the inside on passing downs as part of their NASCAR package. He could have a similar career trajectory as an RJ McIntosh, a guy that started out at DE before eventually kicking inside. Simply put, Taylor is too talented and technically advanced to keep off the field. By his second year at UM, Taylor has the potential to be pushing for star status as one of the top DL in both the ACC and college football nationally, and could place himself in the discussion to be a first round NFL draft pick.
Stefan/LCE,
Can you see potential in Leonard Taylor that he could be as good as Warren Sapp, Cortez Kennedy, Russell Maryland, and even Jerome Brown? Thanks.
