DT Leonard Taylor III ‘Doing Backflips’ After Making the Jets’ Initial 53-Man Roster

A little more than three months ago, DT Leonard Taylor III thought about giving up on his dream of playing in the NFL after not hearing his name called in April’s NFL Draft. Now less than a week from the start of the 2024 regular season, Taylor will get to realize that dream after securing a spot on the Jets’ initial 53-man roster.

“It was an exciting moment,” Taylor said. “I called my mom first and everyone in my closest circle. Everybody was just screaming and hollering, especially my mom and grandma. They were just filled with joy and happiness for what I got to accomplish.”

A five-star recruit out of high school, Taylor, a native of Palmetto, FL, decided to stay home for college, committing to play for the Miami Hurricanes in 2020. He went on to play in 31 games (19 starts) over three seasons for the U and record 6 sacks, 23.5 tackles for loss and 61 total tackles.

He led his team in TFL in 2022 with 10.5 and was named an All-ACC Honorable Mention, but battled a knee injury that caused him to miss two games. He went on to have a self-described “disappointing” 2023 season in South Florida.

“Not getting drafted humbled me a lot,” Taylor said. “I was projected to do these big things in the draft and then things didn’t go as planned. So really, after that, I talked with my mom and got all the bad thoughts out about quitting and all this stuff, but she helped me keep my head on straight.”

Throughout training camp, Taylor leaned on Quinnen Williams for guidance. He shadowed the two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle and tried to replicate his violence on the field as well as his calm demeanor off.

“I grew so much football wise-from the start of camp,” Taylor said. “I just studied the guys in my room and learned as much as I could from Quinnen and those guys. I just watched Q and tried to imitate what he did and followed after him, then combine that with just going out there and giving 100 percent every single day, put as much good on tape as possible and go back and learn from it.”