Cooper Taylor, SS, Richmond Spiders: 2013 NFL Draft Player Profile
Weight: 228 pounds
Position Rank:
Drafted By:
40 Yard Dash: 4.49
Bench Press: 23
Vertical Jump: 36.5″
Broad Jump: 127″
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.29
Career Highlights (via Richmond athletics site)
2012: First-Team AP All-American … First-Team Walter Camp All-America … First-Team The Sports Network All-American … Second-Team All-American by Phil Steele … Second-Team All-American by Beyond College Sports … First-Team All-CAA … Named The Touchdown Club of Richmond Division I National Defensive Back of the Year … First-Team VaSID All-State … College Sports Madness First-Team All-CAA … First-Team Capital One Academic All-American … CAA Football Scholar Athlete of the Year … 2012 CAA Football All-Academic Team … Named CoSIDA Academic All-District … Team captain … Started all 10 games in which he appeared … Totaled 78 tackles, 5.0 TFL, four interceptions, 1.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, four quarterback hurries and nine pass breakups … Named CAA Defensive Player of the Week for the second time on the season after totaling a team-high 13 tackles in shutout win over Rhode Island … Also had 0.5 sacks, two QB hurries and a forced fumble against the Rams … Game-high 12 tackles, seven solo, against No. 4 Old Dominion … Totaled six tackles, including five solo, an interception and three pass breakups in win at Georgia State … CAA Defensive Player of the Week on September 17 … Had eight tackles, a sack, an interception, a forced fumble, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry in victory over Delaware … Eight tackles, including 1.5 for loss, and a quarterback hurry in win over No. 2 James Madison … Seven tackles, one tackle for loss and two pass breakups in Capital Cup win at William & Mary … Totaled five tackles, three solo, and had two interceptions in win at VMI … Totaled a team-high eight tackles, five solo, and a forced fumble in win at Villanova … Ran back second INT 35 yards for first career touchdown … Six tackles at No. 12/13 New Hampshire … Had four tackles, including one for loss, and a pass breakup in victory over Gardner-Webb … 2013 Senior Bowl Watch List …
2011: CAA Football Academic All-Conference Team … Started all eight games in which he appeared, recording 63 tackles, including 20 solo and 1.5 for loss, a forced fumble, an interception, a QB hurry, and three pass breakups … Registered 14 tackles, including five solo and 1.0 for a loss of two yards, a forced fumble, a QB hurry, and a pass breakup in a victory at Duke … Intercepted a pass for 44 yards to go with seven tackles and a pass breakup against Maine … Had 14 tackles at James Madison … Totaled six or more tackles six times …
2010 (at Georgia Tech): Played in four games and made five tackles … Saw limited action after suffering an injury …
2009 (at Georgia Tech): Started the first three games of the season before being diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, which caused him to sit out the rest of the season … Was diagnosed after an extremely high heartbeat in the Sept. 17 Miami game … Had 16 tackles and one interception in the first three games of the season … Produced his second career interception and recorded eight tackles in the win over Clemson (Sept. 10) … Recorded six tackles in the season opener vs. Jacksonville State (Sept. 5) …
2008 (at Georgia Tech): A true freshman safety who emerged as a star of the future … An athletic rookie who made an immediate impact … Named second team All-ACC by Rivals … Named honorable mention Freshmen All-America by College Football News … Ranked second on the team and second among all ACC freshmen in tackles (69), including 45 solo tackles, despite starting just three games … his three career starts came against Florida State, Miami and Georgia … Had two forced fumbles, one interception and two pass breakups … One of three true freshmen to play on the defensive side of the ball … Recorded four solo tackles in the Chick-fil-A Bowl vs. LSU (Dec. 31) … Was Tech’s leading-tackler (9) in the win at 13th-ranked Georgia (Nov. 29) … Recorded three solo tackles and a pass break-up vs. No. 23 Miami (Nov. 20) … Earned National Freshman of the Week honors by Rivals.com after his performance vs. Florida State (Nov. 1) … With FSU driving for the go-ahead touchdown and less than one minute remaining, Taylor forced a Seminole fumble near the goal line, securing Tech’s 31-28 win… had his first career interception and returned it 28 yards against the Seminoles … Paced the team with 10 tackles, including eight solo tackles against FSU… tied for a team-high with 11 tackles, including eight solo tackles, plus one pass break-up vs. Virginia (Oct. 25) … Played the majority of the game at Virginia Tech (Sept. 13) and recorded nine tackles … Played close to 50 snaps at Boston College (Sept. 6) … Had six tackles, including three solo tackles, against the Eagles… had an impressive career debut vs. Jacksonville State (Aug. 28) … Recorded three tackles, including two solo tackles, and forced a fumble against the Gamecocks …
Scouting Report/Player Notes
Big, athletic safety prospect with a ton of upside. Prior to leaving Georgia Tech, he looked like one of the up-and-coming stars in college football after being named second team All-ACC in just his Freshman season. As you can see above, he was diagnosed with something called Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, and he was forced to miss the rest of the season. He had another injury essentially end his Georgia Tech career in 2010, so he transferred to Richmond for a fresh start, and he emerged as an elite player in 2012 with the Spiders. I’m very intrigued by his overall size and athletic ability, and I think some team is going to be willing to take a shot on him in the middle rounds.