Senior Bowl 2020: Could South Carolina State’s Alex Taylor be the next small school NFL phenom?

To find a list of small-school players who have gone on to succeed at the NFL level, Alex Taylor doesn’t even have to leave his alma mater.

South Carolina State has produced a number of pro football standouts over the decades, from Harry Carson and Charlie Brown in the 1980s to Robert Porcher and Orlando Brown in the 1990s, to Darius Leonard and Javon Hargrave in more recent years. Leonard and Hargrave both caught NFL scouts’ eyes at the Reese’s Senior Bowl, something Taylor is hoping to do this week.

“I’ve got a chip on my shoulder this week, showing that I can play with the best of them,” Taylor said. “I’m coming from a (FCS) school. I look the part, and I just want to show I can compete.”

Boy, does he ever look the part.

At Tuesday’s Senior Bowl weigh-in: Taylor measured at 6-foot-8 1/8, 308 pounds, looking incredibly lean for such a large man. His 11-inch hands, 36 1/8-inch arms and 88-inch “wingspan” are each the largest of any player in Mobile this week.

Taylor has held his own on the practice field this week. Here’s video of him working against Florida defensive end Jabari Zuniga.

Taylor isn’t likely to rise as high as Alabama State’s Tytus Howard, an offensive tackle in last year’s Senior Bowl who wound up going in the first round (No. 25 overall) to the Seattle Seahawks. But he’s definitely got some “helium” at a position that is always in demand at the NFL level.

“Typically, you would want to draft a guy like this in the third- or fourth-round, make him a developmental player, try to add some weight to him,” ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay said during the Senior Bowl practice broadcast on Wednesday. “… But I could see him going at some point in the second round, just because he’s so long. We saw that last year; a number of teams traded up for tackles.”

With his frame, you might think that Taylor has a basketball background, and you’d be right. He didn’t even play football until his junior year of high school in Monck’s Corner, S.C., and originally signed with Appalachian State before transferring back to his home state school.

He first played basketball at South Carolina before finally switching sports for good in 2018.

“I ended up catching my niche in football,” Taylor said. “I’m still young to the game, I’m still learning it. But I found a home here.

“The footwork in basketball definitely helped me a lot. As an O-lineman, you need your feet more than anything. That’s a big thing.”

Reese's Senior Bowl: South team practice

South offensive lineman Alex Taylor of South Carolina Sate (77) practices for the Reese's Senior Bowl on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020, at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

Pro scouts began showing up at South Carolina State practices early this season, and Senior Bowl officials scouted Taylor in person against South Florida on Sept. 14. He turned down offers from the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl and the East-West Shrine Game to play in the Senior Bowl, which sent 93 players to the NFL draft a year ago.

Leonard, now an All-Pro linebacker with the Indianapolis Colts who was NFL Rookie of the Year in 2018, also showed out during Senior Bowl week two years ago. He totaled 14 tackles in the Senior Bowl game, and was drafted No. 36 overall in the second round by the Colts.

“Seeing what (Leonard) did made me know it was possible to do it if I go out here and bust my tail and work hard every day,” Taylor said. “It’s crazy. When Darius was on the team at South Carolina State, I was playing basketball. I didn’t end up playing football til the year after he left.

“He would always see me and tell me ‘come out here and play football.’ But I didn’t listen to him until after he was gone. But now I’m here."

The 2020 Reese’s Senior Bowl takes place Saturday at Mobile’s Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m., with NFL Network to televise the action live.

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