Vanderbilt Commodores Star Cornerback Projected to Break NFL Draft Drought
The Vanderbilt Commodores have not had a player selected in the NFL draft in three years, but a new era in Nashville could lead to that changing very soon.
It has already been a transformational season for Clark Lea and the Commodores, and getting back into the draft would be the next logical step for the program.
Ryan Fowler of The Draft Network has that changing as he projected Vanderbilt cornerback Kolbey Taylor as a seventh-round pick in his latest mock draft for the New York Giants.
"Taylor is a long and athletic corner that has popped in some conversations over the last few days. Built similarly in the mold of New York Jets corner Sauce Gardner, Taylor is wiry and high-hipped but has the change of direction ability to make plays at a variety of depths," said Fowler. "He needs work when his back is turned to the QB (spatial awareness), but there are flashes in his tape that showcase a future NFL contributor. He also tackles his tail off on the outside and isn’t afraid to stick his face in the mud at the line of scrimmage."
This would be the first Commodores defensive back taken since Joejuan Williams in the second round of the 2019 draft. They've had just four drafted since 2010.
Taylor has been a successful transfer portal addition from this last class.
Prior to coming to Vanderbilt, he was a three-star safety and the No. 371 overall player out of Texas alone. He built up his image a bit with the Wyoming Cowboys, setting up his move to the SEC.
The senior didn't really break out until last season when he had 29 tackles and an impressive seven passes defended. He also had a fumble recovery of 40 yards.
His large frame and stellar athleticism led to an advantage over the lesser competition with the Cowboys, but scouts were waiting to see how he held up against SEC competition.
It hasn't been the cleanest of campaigns for Taylor, but he has shown a lot of the same athleticism with 18 tackles on the year and one of them going for a loss.
He has only allowed more than 30 yards twice this season and only had one game that he got beat very badly, giving up two scores in the loss to the Georgia State Panthers.
Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders