Sean Taylor stands 6 feet 3, weighs 230 pounds and patrols the secondary for the Miami Hurricanes.
That is not a misprint, typo or fact error. The chiseled Taylor is a gargantuan safety. By college and NFL standards.
Taylor is the prototype defensive player for the 21st century. Bigger, faster, better than before.
Fifteen years ago, another Taylor who was the same height and weighed just 7 pounds more, Lawrence Taylor, dominated the NFL. He was a linebacker.
We've come a long way in a decade-and-a-half.
Sean Taylor is ushering in the next phase. For his sensational 2003 season he has earned state of Florida college defensive player of the year honors from the St. Petersburg Times, beating out Florida's Keiwan Ratliff.
Taylor used his physical gifts to place second on the 'Canes in solo tackles with 54, behind only All-American linebacker Jonathan Vilma. He also registered seven tackles for loss, a very high mark for a defensive back, to help Miami go 10-2.
As superb as Taylor is in run support, he might actually be better in pass coverage. He tied for second nationally with Ratliff with nine interceptions, was second with 187 interception return yards, led the nation with three interception return touchdowns and tallied a team-high 13 passes defensed.
Though just 20 years old and only 2 1/2 years into college, Taylor likely will be headed to the NFL this spring. Miami's 2004 opponents can only hope so.
