Recruiting on the South Plains: S Christian Taylor Player Profile

Jersey Village safety Christian Taylor was the second commit for yesterday and, for a lot of us, a surprise commit for the day, as Taylor ended up as the 14th member of Texas Tech's 2015 class and the first member of the 2015 secondary, a position that ended up being decimated by injuries last year.

DEFENSIVE BACK
CHRISTIAN TAYLOR	SAFETY
HT/WT: 6-1/185 FORTY: 4.75 HIGH SCHOOL: Jersey Village (Houston, TX) VIDEO: Hudl RECRUITING SERVICES: Rivals | Scout | ESPN 78 | 24/7 Sports 85 CUMULATIVE RANKING: 0.8257 VTM PROFILE DATE: December 19, 2014 OFFERS: Baylor, Boise State, Fresno State, Louisville, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas State, Texas Tech, Tulsa, UCF, Utah, Wake Forest

THE PLAYER SPEAKS: Via the DMN's EJ Holland via Rivals ($), Taylor said that he he fell in love with Texas Tech and can't wait to be in Lubbock:

"I mean, I love Texas Tech. I fell in love with it, and I’ve been on three. It felt like a real family environment, and I really liked it," Taylor told Rivals.com. "Ever since they’ve offered me, we’ve had a really close relationship since, so that’s really why.

"I’m very excited, can’t wait. I can’t wait to get down there and get started with things. I’m definitely excited."

SCOUTING REPORT: Taylor is a prototypical safety and considering all of the players that have committed at safety, Taylor's commitment is pretty big because he's the first defensive back commit of the class. I'm not sure how to process the listed 4.75 40-yard time as he's plenty fast to make up make up yards at the safety spot and he's terrific supporting the run. There's one offensive play in his film where Taylor gets to the sideline pretty quickly, or faster than you would expect a guy that runs 4.7 to get to the edge and beat some players, but whatever. I still think that the speed isn't a problem. Taylor tracks the ball really well and his height helps him break up passes that a shorter safety wouldn't make.

And make no mistake, Texas Tech needs a couple of defensive backs in this class, even though last year's class was initially seven deep: Josh Keys, Payton Hendrix, Nigel Bethel II, Jah'Shawn Johnson, Derrick Dixon, Connor Wilson and Michael Coley. Keys was kicked off the team. Wilson never made it on the team, a chronic injury perhaps that will keep him from playing, and Coley has been moved to receiver. A once deep class is now just four players, so Taylor's commitment is critical here.

Christian, welcome to Texas Tech and Git Your Guns Up!