Raiders S Trey Taylor: Potential Gem of the 2024 Draft?

The Las Vegas Raiders selected Air Force safety Trey Taylor in the seventh round of the draft.

Last season, Taylor was the Jim Thorpe Award winner as the nation's top defensive back. Taylor registered 71 tackles and three interceptions during the season.

Taylor earned a Pro Football Focus grade of 82.6.

Despite being taken late in the draft, Taylor does not doubt his ability to be an impact player with the Raiders.

Taylor told the media after the draft that he would fit in well with the Raiders' culture.

"[Las Vegas] fits me well coming from the Academy and I feel like I'm a killer on the field," Taylor said. "Like, I have a different instinct when I get on the field and I brought that from the Academy, and I'm hoping to bring it onto this team ... I feel like there's a lot of people who have the same mentality on [the Raiders]. [I'm] definitely ready to go take on that identity."

When Taylor was asked about his vision as a Raider, he made it clear he didn't see the seventh-round ceiling.

"I'm going to do what the team needs me to do as soon as I get on there because I feel like I'm going to make my team better wherever I'm at," he said. "But I'm competing for a starting spot wherever I go. So, I'm glad I landed at a spot like Vegas where they got a lot of good safeties there ... I have a really good feeling they're going to allow me to compete and do [what] I love to do.

"I'm at my best game when I'm able to compete."

Our Hondo Carpenter Sr. felt Taylor could be an impact player given three years in the league. Carpenter touted Taylor's intangibles.

"We know about Bowers, we know about [Jackson Powers-Johnson] -- but man, I just think Trey Taylor [is] him," Carpenter said. "The thing that got me -- he had a chance to go to a lot of places but he picked Air Force Academy because of the education. Because he wanted to serve his country. I mean -- there's something special about that young man."

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