After a standout offseason, where does Texas Tech’s Dadrion Taylor-Demerson stand in the 2024 NFL Draft safety class with his scouting report? Taylor-Demerson still falls under the radar at times, but he has the skill set to make an early and profound impact at the NFL level.
Dadrion Taylor-Demerson’s Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 5’10 3/8″
- Weight: 197 pounds
- Length: 30 7/8″
- Wingspan: 74 1/4″
- Hand: 9 5/8″
- Position: Safety
- School: Texas Tech
- Current Year: Redshirt Senior
“Rabbit” Taylor-Demerson is one of the most interesting players in the 2024 NFL Draft. If you can believe it, he didn’t play defensive back full-time until his collegiate career began. In high school, at Carl Albert HS in Oklahoma, he was a running back who amassed 4,611 career rushing yards.
After signing with Texas Tech as a three-star recruit, Taylor-Demerson switched to the defensive side of the ball. For his first two seasons, he was primarily a special teamer who at times rotated into defensive looks. And in 2021, he started to emerge as a central playmaker.
In his third season, Taylor-Demerson racked up three interceptions and a career-high 10 pass deflections. Then in 2022, he led all Tech DBs with 74 tackles and added 5.5 tackles for loss, a sack, and three more picks.
The 2023 season was a career year for Taylor-Demerson in coverage. He racked up a career-high four interceptions, earning second-team All-Big 12 honors in the process. That performance earned him an invite to the East-West Shrine Bowl in Frisco, Texas — where he distinguished himself as one of the best players in attendance.
An NFL team is going to get a stud in Dadrion Taylor-Demerson (@DadrionT) ⭐️#ShrineBowl | #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/7zxnUeblvG
— East-West Shrine Bowl (@ShrineBowl) April 24, 2024
As if Taylor-Demerson didn’t already have enough bounce on his way to the 2024 NFL Draft, he tested like a premier athlete at the NFL Combine, logging a 4.41-second 40-yard dash and a 38″ vertical — and he shined in positional drills with his technical precision and fluidity.
All along the way in the 2024 NFL Draft cycle, Taylor-Demerson has proved impossible to ignore. That trend stretches back to his collegiate tape, where Taylor-Demerson stands out as an NFL player on a college defense — with his processing, communication, versatility, and unmatched competitive edge.
MORE: Top Safeties in the 2024 NFL Draft
“It lets your boys know you’re ready to play,” Taylor-Demerson said about his physicality and confidence at the NFL Combine.
You’d be hard-pressed to find many more safeties ready to play in the 2024 NFL Draft than Taylor-Demerson — but just how high can he climb in the coming class?
Taylor-Demerson’s Scouting Report
Strengths
- Compact, low-to-the-ground defender who packs a lot of mass inside his frame.
- Springy athlete with easy burst and one-step acceleration on the horizontal plane.
- Has the fluidity to make swift 180-degree transitions to regain hip leverage in trail.
- Energized mover with a smooth pedal who can make swift transitions on triggers.
- Has shown he can throttle and swivel on his pedal to maintain leverage in space.
- Has near-elite playmaking and pursuit range and can swiftly undercut deep passes.
- Brings combative energy in all phases and can blast passes loose at the catch point.
- Has two-high and single-high versatility and can kick-slide off his pedal to keep spacing.
- Active pre-snap processor and communicator who can conduct rotations off motions.
- Able to process overlapping route concepts and carry vertical WRs with hip leverage.
- Hastily gets depth off play-action exchanges and closes gaps with his recovery speed.
- Can get his eyes around when trailing WRs and precisely target the ball with extensions.
- Plays the ball through the catch point and can contort and extend beyond his frame.
- Not only willing but eager to engage blocks and impose physicality in run support.
- Can use his fleet-footed burst to close gaps in support and forcefully wrap as a tackler.
Weaknesses
- Has below average size for a safety and only has average length and reach.
- With size limitations, can be more easily moved off his spot in press-man coverage.
- Can get delayed when scraping past overlapping WRs to track plays laterally.
- Occasionally plays too tall and crosses his feet on his pedal, which can delay transitions.
- Tall pad level on pedal can get in the way of sink and redirection quickness.
- Sometimes widens his feet too far on his pedal in off-man, locking out his hips.
- Trigger on in-breaking routes in off-man coverage can be a bit quicker at times.
- On occasion, throws himself into contact and fails to wrap up runners properly.
- Lacking size and length can make it difficult for him to deconstruct blocks at times.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Taylor-Demerson grades out as a top-50 prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft and a top-three safety on my board behind Iowa’s Cooper DeJean and Minnesota’s Tyler Nubin. Not only is Taylor-Demerson a surefire early-round talent, but he’s also one of the most versatile DBs in the class — worth early-to-mid Day 2 capital.
Almost any role you need, Taylor-Demerson can fulfill it. He’s shown he can play in the slot in off-man with his crisp pedal, foot speed, and fluidity. He can enforce in support with his speed coming downhill and his willing physicality, and he can also adapt on play-action looks.
But Taylor-Demerson’s best reps come in space when he’s aligned as a field safety, either in two-high or single-high. Taylor-Demerson is a sharp processor, an active communicator, and a rangy playmaker with center-fielder reach.
Taylor-Demerson can process overlapping routes on his pedal, maintain depth discipline with tempo variations and kick-slides, erase intermediate threats with his pace, and he can track and undercut passes with his instinctive playmaking ability and ball skills.
Taylor-Demerson’s speed on the field is rivaled only by the speed with which he learned the safety position and eventually became a defensive leader and Swiss army knife for the Red Raiders’ defense. He not only developed but thrived when given the opportunity, and it’s hard to expect anything different once he reaches the NFL.
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Press-man coverage does present challenges for Taylor-Demerson, who lacks great length and play strength, and there are still a few minute technical inconsistencies to iron out. But as a versatile field safety with single-high, two-high, and slot versatility, Taylor-Demerson has impact-starter upside.
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