Big T (aka Terrance Taylor) talks about Colts Rookie Mini-Camp

by BigBlueShoe on May 5, 2009 12:17 PM EDT in Analysis Comment 19 comments

The most interesting player taken by the Colts in the 2009 NFL Draft was not RB Donald Brown, DT Fili Moala, or WR Austin Collie. The guy who really grabbed the attention of many fans here was Michigan nose tackle Terrance Taylor. Like Fili, Taylor breaks the mold the Colts usually set for DTs. At 6'0, 315 pounds, Big T (as I am now going to refer to him as) is one big friggin dude. When you consider that last year's starting nose tackle was a good 35 pounds lighter than Big T, Indy drafting the Michigan product really hits home the notion that the Colts are tired of using free agency to solidify the nose tackle spot long term.

Big T recently talked with Colts.com's Jeffery Gorman, and like most interviews on Colts.com it was "nice" but really didn't tell us too much about him (aside from the fact he really likes John Teerlick).

What makes Big T so interesting is he simply does not fit the kind of player the Colts typically draft for the nose tackle spot. Check out these bits from his scouting report:

Good bulk...Super strong...Plays with great leverage...Excellent run stuffer...Is able to occupy multiple blockers...Stout at the point of attack..Can collapse the pocket...Nice instincts and awareness...Tough and nasty...Durable...Has a lot of experience against top competition.
...

A prototypical two-down specialist...Potential 3-4 nose tackle prospect.

I mean, does that sound like a Tampa-2 tackle?

Now, before the folks championing a 3-4 jump in and say "SEE, SEE, WE'RE MOVING TO A 3-4!" I will remind you what Jim Caldwell, Larry Coyer, and Bill Polian have said again, and again, and again: The Colts are not changing their defense. We are not shifting to a 3-4. Though the new fad now is 3-4 defenses, I'll remind you that only two years ago the two teams playing in the Super Bowl ran Tampa-2. The 3-4 is not "better" than the Tampa-2. Like all schemes, it comes down to personnel.

For the Colts, Big T seems to be the "Corey Simon-type" player they have lacked. Simon was a very big boy, often playing at about 315-320 pounds. What Indy's defesne needs is a tackle who can control two interior players, allowing the three tech tackle and the DEs to shoot the gap and attack the offense's backfield.

We will follow Big T's development during camp, pre-season, and into the regular season. Right now, it seems he and Mookie Johnson will battle it out for the starting NT job.

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Comments

I like Antonio Johnson

I think we’ve got a pair of pretty good NT’s

David Burton to the COLTS!

by fpacheco on May 5, 2009 12:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Now is the worst time to be switching to a 3-4

and an awesome one to be running a Tampa-2

Every defense with issues is bring a new guy in who is making the D into a 3-4, while the Tampa-2 is losing it’s “trendy status”

The Packers are going to a 3-4
The Chiefs are going to a 3-4
The Broncos (who ran some T-2ish stuff with Coyer) are going to a 3-4
The Lions (who ran a T-2 last year with next to 0 talent on the defensive side) are going to a hybrid 4-3/3-4

Tampa has been running the T-2 less and less, and now they have a “Two fatties in the middle” DC in place and Kiffin out of town.

3-4 players are going to be at a premium (just look at how much higher than expected Tyson Jackson and Larry English went), while T-2 players are going to get cheaper and cheaper as more teams look at them as specialists instead of viable starters.

Half the game too lazy
still sleepin' on me
but I'm 'bout to wake 'em
-Lil' Wayne "Fireman"

by shake n bake on May 5, 2009 12:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

here's the breakdown

3-4s: PIT, SD, NE, GB, DAL, MIA, DEN, KC, CLE, NYJ, SF (11)
Hybrids: ARI, DET, BAL (3)

that’s almost half the league demanding 3-4 players

within the 4-3 teams here are the T-2 teams
IND, CHI, BUF, MIN, TB?

4 maybe 5 teams really looking for the undersized DEs and speedy LBs than Indy needs.

Half the game too lazy
still sleepin' on me
but I'm 'bout to wake 'em
-Lil' Wayne "Fireman"

by shake n bake on May 5, 2009 12:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

oh, and big physical CBs without blazing speed

The Marlin Jackson/Malcolm Jenkins types who most teams would stick at safety

Half the game too lazy
still sleepin' on me
but I'm 'bout to wake 'em
-Lil' Wayne "Fireman"

by shake n bake on May 5, 2009 2:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Titans can be thrown in as well

They seem to be interested in small but fast DTs also.

by the_iowa_hawkeye on May 5, 2009 3:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Could not agree more

Also, regarding Corey Simon at 315 lbs…. you have got to be kidding, BBS. His left thigh maybe. Throw in the man-breasts and that Dunlop tire straining to escape his jersey, and that guy had to be 350 at times. There were a couple photos of him standing next to teammates and it looked like he ate a WR for lunch. Gravity was not his best friend.

Although Shake (below) I think a lot of those 3-4 teams think of themselves as hybrids, playing whatever alignment they deem best at the time. NE and Pitt most notably, probably Dal too and wherever Mangini happens to be today. However, they still have the 3-4 type personnel, and that is the key point here.

I hate Joe Namath. That's how long I've been a Colts fan.

by Bobman on May 5, 2009 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hence King going undrafted

From a player’s standpoint it’s a really tough time to be a small but fast DT unless he can also learn how to shift to a DE in a 3-4.

by the_iowa_hawkeye on May 5, 2009 3:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"Big T"

Love it

by LovinBlue on May 5, 2009 12:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Triple T

Triple T—Terrible Terrance Taylor.

by wcwills on May 5, 2009 12:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Terrible T

Or Terror T.

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by BigBlueShoe on May 5, 2009 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Terrible T

gets my vote. (I was originally thinking T-squared)

"I throw, you catch. It's NOT that hard!"
Peyton Manning, SNL, 2007

by peytonsthebest on May 5, 2009 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Triple T

Was what Terry Tate referred to himself as in one of the Nike commercials. That’s what I thought of when I first saw his name.

by wcwills on May 5, 2009 9:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don't you think we should see him play first?

Before we go and give him nick names like “Terrible”? He may turn out to be “terrible” at stopping the run. He didn’t seem to do much for Michigan’s woeful Run-D the last two years.

by the_iowa_hawkeye on May 5, 2009 3:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

We know.

by bamock on May 5, 2009 3:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Giddiup.

Terrance ‘Tractor’ Taylor.

A fellow Michigan grad – the irony (Robert ‘Tractor’ Traylor). Hopefully Terrance pays his taxes and doesn’t have any cousins that head $180 million dollar coke/weed trafficking outfits.

Although…

Heard/read good things about Louisville’s Adrian Grady too. Drastic upgrade in size and skill at the 2 interior D line spots.

Hello Defense and Super Bowl Ring #2 in the PM Era.

by I'm Not Alone, I'm Just Blue on May 5, 2009 1:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs