Chiefs UDFA Spotlight: Purdue CB Reese Taylor

An Indianapolis, Indiana native, Taylor was named “Mr. Football” in the state of Indiana in 2017 as a quarterback at Ben Davis High School. As a senior, he led his team to a perfect 14-0 record and a state title with 215 completed passes for 3,150 yards and 40 touchdowns.

He was a two-time First-Team All-State quarterback high school, but Taylor wouldn’t continue playing the position at the next level. After landing at Indiana University, Taylor played three positions in his freshman campaign, spending time at cornerback, running back and wide receiver. As a sophomore, he’d make the permanent switch to cornerback during spring practices.

Taylor used his final year of eligibility to transfer from the Hoosiers to join the Purdue Boilermakers.

Stats

Indiana (2018-2021): 40 games played. 69 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, 11 passes defended and one forced fumble. 27 receptions for 174 yards. 15 carries for 83 yards. 14 punt returns for 115 yards and four kick returns for 87 yards.

Purdue (2022): 13 games played. 34 total tackles, one tackle for loss, one interception, four passes defended and one fumble recovery. Two punt returns for 15 yards

Combine & pro day results

Height: 5-9

Weight: 188

40-yard dash: 4.48s

Vertical: 38.5 inches

Broad: 125 inches

Bench: 12

3-Cone: 6.63s

Short Shuttle: 4.07s

Highlights & film

2022:

Fit with the Chiefs

Taylor might be the beneficiary of opportunity and playing the right positions in Kansas City.

While the defensive back room is extremely competitive, the early portion of the offseason program has seen the Chiefs without two of their top slot cornerbacks in L’Jarius Sneed (knee) and Trent McDuffie (fibula stress). As long as those players remain sidelined, it means that Taylor will be getting repetitions that he might not normally receive.

Taylor’s top competition in playing the slot corner spot is fourth-year CB Dicaprio Bootle, who hasn’t proven to be anything other than a practice squad player to this point of his career. Bootle did appear to have the leg up in OTAs and mandatory minicamp, but that could change in training camp.

There’s also an element of versatility at play here. While Taylor likely is restricted to playing the slot on defense due to his size, the fact that he has experience as a return specialist and special teamer certainly could play into things. If he gets Dave Toub’s stamp of approval, he could be on the shortlist to make the practice squad or even the 53-man roster in 2023.

2023 UDFA Spotlight Series

Story originally appeared on Chiefs Wire