The San Francisco 49ers attended Temple’s pro day on Sunday and it looks like they zeroed in on defensive lineman Jullian Taylor. The 49ers had dinner with him on Sunday according to Draft Analyst writer Tony Pauline.
Taylor was not on scouts’ draft boards entering 2018, and it appears he did not participate in the NFL Combine, but Draft Analyst gave him a sixth round grade and mentions his game against Central Florida—a game where he recorded 4.5 tackles for a loss—as his signature game. Here is a nice highlight video of him. At the time, Central Florida was ranked No. 15 in the College Football Playoff Rankings.
The knock on Taylor is his injury history. In the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Temple went 20-8 and won the league championship in 2016. Taylor only appeared in four of those games due to nagging knee injuries including a torn ACL . In 2017, he managed to appear in 10 of the 11 games for Temple.
The 49ers have a defensive line filled with first round picks, but some depth is always welcome. Taylor shows some good instincts to getting into the backfield and could be a nice flier to bring into training camp. The small-school comparison, not to mention the limited body of work is a concern, but Taylor seems to turning some heads from his strong pro day. He’s had five private workouts with NFL teams already, and is slated to meet with the Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals.