The Eagles selected Colorado linebacker Davion Taylor in the third round Friday, the first linebacker Howie Roseman has drafted in the first three rounds since second-rounder Mychal Kendricks in 2012.
Taylor played basketball and ran track at South Pike High School in Magnolia, Miss., but only played two varsity football games because his family’s religious beliefs did not allow him to participate in sports from Friday night through Sunday morning, and South Pike's football games were mostly on Friday nights.
Taylor joins a very thin Eagles linebacking corps that includes only Nate Gerry, Duke Riley, Jatavis Brown, T.J. Edwards and Alex Singleton.
At 6-foot-2, 230 pounds, Taylor ran 4.49 at the Combine and he’s an explosive, physical, player but lacks experience after not playing in high school and playing just two years on the BCS level.
The book on Taylor is that he could be a special teams contributor for a year or two while learning the position before becoming a regular contributor on defense.
After high school, Taylor’s family allowed Taylor to pursue college sports, and he wound up at Coahoma Community College in Clarksdale, Miss., where he made the football team as a walk-on.
He transferred to Colorado after two years at Coahoma and was a two-year starter for the Buffs. In those two seasons he had 17 ½ tackles for loss, 121 tackles, one sack and 10 pass breakups.
He also ran track in his first year in Boulder and placed sixth in the 100-meter dash at the 2018 Pac-12 Championships at Stanford with a time of 10.60 and ran on the seventh-place 400-meter relay team, which ran 41.34.
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