2024 Husker Signee Analysis: Defensive Back Evan Taylor

His frame and athleticism give him long-term upside at cornerback, but rehabbing a knee injury is the first priority

Evan Taylor via X

Nebraska loves to recruit multi-sport athletes and two-way players. You may have noticed every skill position player in this class played on both sides of the ball in high school.

This staff will trust their eyes and their development and let the chips fall where they may. Some of these additions in the defensive secondary will play safety, some corner. Some could end up on offense. We've already seen the staff shuffle some pieces from their 2023 class, with Jeremiah Charles and Brice Turner - recruited to play receiver - now giving defense a try.

If there was someone in this group who I could see ending up at wide receiver, it would be Waxhaw (N.C.) Cuthbertson High School two-way standout Evan Taylor.

Several schools recruited Taylor as a receiver, in particular East Carolina, who gave him his first offer after the school began recruiting him in the fall of 2022, after Taylor had a breakout junior season catching 38 passes for 528 yards and seven touchdowns.

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Taylor landed on Nebraska's radar after defensive backs coach Evan Cooper watched game film from his sophomore and junior seasons. Cooper loved his frame and his impressive track times. He went to see Taylor in North Carolina in person shortly after their communication started, and after getting an up-close look offered Taylor on the spot on May 23.

Nebraska was just the second Power Five school to offer Taylor, following Rutgers, with another 10 or so Group of five teams offering as well.

Taylor had been flying relatively under the radar until that point. With teams getting a chance to come through Cuthbertson during the spring evaluation period, however, his recruitment seemed on the verge of exploding. Several regional schools in the ACC footprint ramped up their interest and began contacting him. In-state schools Duke and North Carolina, in particular, started getting more involved.

He's a legitimate 6-foot-2 and around 175 pounds with an 80-inch wingspan. During camps he was laser-timed at 4.53 seconds in the 40-yard dash, 4.33 seconds in the pro agility and had a 31-inch vertical. Taylor also had spring track times of 10.63 (100m) and 21.74 (200m). It was only a matter of time before he had more offers.

Cooper prioritized Taylor and scheduled an official visit for June. Taylor came to Lincoln during Father’s Day weekend (June 16-18) after taking visits to Rutgers (June 2-4) and East Carolina (June 9-11), not knowing what to expect. Like 99% of recruits who are outside the region, Taylor imagined campus was basically in the back of Wayne's farm in Letterkenny.

The city and campus took him by surprise. He was hosted by Derek Branch and also spent a lot of time around Dwight Bootle II and Princewill Umanmielen. They and several other players on the roster showed Taylor the family vibe in Lincoln while they spent the weekend hanging out with the team and the other recruits in town.

The current players had great things to say about head coach Matt Rhule and the new staff, which Taylor experienced for himself. The visit was a great opportunity for him to sit down with coaches and get a better feel for the rest of the staff after establishing a great initial relationship with Evan Cooper.

Despite being a priority target for Rutgers, a school that had been recruiting him longer and was half the distance away as Lincoln, Taylor came into his official visit knowing he could commit if the visit answered all of his questions. It did.

Taylor committed during his visit but didn't publicly announce it until the day after he got home on June 19. Despite continued overtures from several schools, Taylor never wavered and shut down his recruitment. He is Nebraska's first high school signee fromvNorth Carolina since QB Curt Dukes and DL Brandon Greeson in 2002.

His loyalty to Nebraska was reciprocated by the staff when they stuck by him after he suffered a devastating knee injury in the first quarter of his first game this fall.

Taylor was running a 5-yard hitch when the injury happened. The ball came out of his QB's hand late, which allowed the defensive back to jump on him before Taylor could make a move. The defender hit him low and Taylor hobbled to the bench after feeling immediate pain.

Taylor had suffered damage to his ACL, MCL and PCL ligaments. His mind immediately went to worrying whether his spot in the class would still be there. After all, it’s not uncommon for schools to rescind an offer after a serious injury, but Husker coaches were quick to ease Taylor's mind and let him know nothing was going to change regarding their commitment to him.

His injury was initially severe enough that he had to spend several weeks immobilized at home before undergoing surgery. Doctors felt his PCL could heal on its own, but the injury still required multiple surgeries to address the other separate tears. The first one focused on the MCL and was conducted in early fall. He had a second surgery to repair the ACL on Dec. 1.

The rehab process has already been a long one for Taylor and it's still continuing. Before arriving in Lincoln, he had multiple two-hour sessions weekly, aiming to help him regain strength and flexibility in his knee. He finally started to walk without crutches and braces as he entered the new year.

He enrolled early and while he won't participate in winter conditioning, he'll be afforded the luxury of continuing his rehab under the guidance of Nebraska’s Athletic Medicine staff. He can also utilize this time to pick up information in meetings and stay invested that way.

Taylor is hopeful he will be able to at least participate lightly in spring camp, but will almost certainly not be a full participant. His goal is to be fully cleared by fall camp.

We have seen Matt Rhule be extremely cautious with players returning from major injuries, particularly knee injuries. He held out Marques Buford several weeks past his cleared date, which I thought was a good move. He saved him for his four games, got him extra recovery, and still afforded him a redshirt.

With the depth in the secondary, I would be surprised to see Evan Taylor on the field at all this season. If he does play, I would anticipate the same blueprint we saw with Buford. Keep him out until November, when he would be 14 months removed from the injury and still be eligible for a four-game redshirt.

Taylor shredded his knee, so you have to be careful rebuilding his health and confidence. I'd lean toward keeping him on the shelf until the spring of 2025.

Assuming he comes back fully healthy, Taylor could be a really nice piece of clay for Evan Cooper to work with at cornerback. This staff loves long, rangy, explosive players and Taylor was certainly in that camp before the injury. He has exciting long-term upside given his frame and athleticism.

With the numbers crunch this staff has been dealing with as they balance building the roster and maneuvering around attrition this offseason, Taylor will technically not be a scholarship player; he will be one of a handful of NIL-funded premium walk-ons in this class.