Tag: Willie Taylor III

Jaguars 2023 roster review: OLB Willie Taylor III

The Jaguars are hoping they found a hidden gem in former XFL pass rusher Willie Taylor III.

The brunt of the offseason is in the books and training camp is still off on the horizon. Join us in the NFL’s dead zone with a player-by-player review of the Jaguars roster ahead of the 2023 season.

The Jacksonville Jaguars finished the 2022 season with 26th most sacks in the NFL, but did very little to bolster their pass rushing group ahead of the 2023 season. They waited until the fifth round to add outside linebacker Yasir Abdullah and the team still hasn’t re-signed Dawuane Smoot.

However, the team did make one outside the box addition to their crop of pass rushers. In May, the team pilfered the XFL ranks and signed Willie Taylor III of the championship-winning Arlington Renegades.

In addition to four sacks and eight tackles for loss in the regular season, Taylor added another 1.5 sacks in the Renegades’ two playoff victories.

Prior to his brief XFL career, Taylor played for Washington State and transferred to Eastern Kentucky for his senior season.

Contract (2023): $750,000 base salary, $750,000 cap hit.

Acquired: Jaguars signed Taylor as a free agent on May 17, 2023.

PFF grades:

  • 66.6 (2022 – XFL)

Statistics:

  • Four sacks, two forced fumbles, one interception, eight tackles for loss (2022)

Highlight:

Quote: “He’ll get an opportunity. Whether he’ll get drafted or not doesn’t really matter — I don’t think to me or to him. He certainly has earned it, has done a good job and will get a chance in that league. That’s all you can ask for.” – Renegades executive Rick Mueller on Taylor

Calvin Ridley (No. 0) Travis Etienne Jr. (No. 1) Rayshawn Jenkins (No. 2) C.J. Beathard (No. 3) Tank Bigsby (No. 4) Andre Cisco (No. 5)
Chris Claybrooks (No. 6) Zay Jones (No. 7) Logan Cooke (No. 9) Parker Washington (No. 11) James McCourt (No. 12) Christian Kirk (No. 13)
Kendric Pryor (No. 14) Tim Jones (No. 15) Trevor Lawrence (No. 16) Evan Engram (No. 17) Nathan Rourke (No. 18) Sammis Reyes (No. 19)
Daniel Thomas (No. 20) Latavious Brini (No. 21) JaMycal Hasty (No. 22) Foyesade Oluokun (No. 23) Snoop Conner (No. 24) D’Ernest Johnson (No. 25)
Antonio Johnson (No. 26) Divaad Wilson (No. 27) Tevaughn Campbell (No. 29) Montaric Brown (No. 30) Darious Williams (No. 31) Tyson Campbell (No. 32)
Devin Lloyd (No. 33) Gregory Junior (No. 34) Ayo Oyelola (No. 35) Christian Braswell (No. 36) Tre Herndon (No. 37) Qadree Ollison (No. 38)
Jamal Agnew (No. 39) Erick Hallett (No. 40) Josh Allen (No. 41) Andrew Wingard (No. 42) Kaleb Hayes (No. 43) Derek Parish (No. 43)
Travon Walker (No. 44) K’Lavon Chaisson (No. 45) Ross Matiscik (No. 46) De’Shaan Dixon (No. 47) Chad Muma (No. 48) Shaquille Quarterman (No. 50)
Ventrell Miller (No. 51) DaVon Hamilton (No. 52) Willie Taylor III (No. 53) DJ Coleman (No. 54) Dequan Jackson (No. 55) Yasir Abdullah (No. 56)
Caleb Johnson (No. 57) Raymond Vohasek (No. 59) Darryl Williams (No. 60) Samuel Jackson (No. 62) Coy Cronk (No. 64) Chandler Brewer (No. 67)
Brandon Scherff (No. 68) Tyler Shatley (No. 69) Cole Van Lanen (No. 70) Walker Little (No. 72) Blake Hance (No. 73) Cam Robinson (No. 74)
Cooper Hodges (No. 75) Anton Harrison (No. 76) Josh Wells (No. 77) Ben Bartch (No. 78) Luke Fortner (No. 79) Kevin Austin Jr. (No. 80)
Seth Williams (No. 81) Elijah Cooks (No. 84) Brenton Strange (No. 85) Gerrit Prince (No. 86) Jaray Jenkins (No. 87) Oliver Martin (No. 88)
Luke Farrell (No. 89) Henry Mondeaux (No. 90) Jordan Smith (No. 92) Tyler Lacy (No. 93) Folorunso Fatukasi (No. 94) Roy Robertson-Harris (No. 95)
Adam Gotsis (No. 96) Nick Thurman (No. 97) Michael Dogbe (No. 98) Jeremiah Ledbetter (No. 99) Brandon McManus Jacob Harris
Josh Pederson

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Jaguars place WR Jaylon Moore on injured reserve

The Jaguars placed Jaylon Moore on injured reserve to make room for XFL pass rusher Willie Taylor III.

The Jacksonville Jaguars added XFL pass rusher Willie Taylor III on Wednesday and made room on the roster by placing wide receiver Jaylon Moore on injured reserve.

Moore, 25, spent the 2022 season on the Jaguars’ practice squad after spending the first two years of his NFL career with the Baltimore Ravens.

Through three seasons in the NFL, the former undrafted free agent hasn’t played in a regular season game. Landing on the injured reserve in the offseason means that Moore’s 2023 season is over.

While the details of his season-ending injury have not been made public, Moore hinted at the news in a post on Instagram last week.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CsJWXo9uMCu/

“Definitely one the most frustrating part of my life but I know everything happens for a reason,” Moore wrote.

The Jaguars have four veterans presumably locking down four roster spots in Calvin Ridley, Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, and Jamal Agnew. The remainder of the depth chart will be sorted out in training camp with Tim Jones, Kevin Austin Jr., and sixth-round pick Parker Washington among the top contenders.

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Jaguars reportedly set to sign OLB Willie Taylor III of XFL’s Renegades

The Jaguars are reportedly adding a pass rusher from the XFL champion Arlington Renegades.

The Jacksonville Jaguars plan to sign outside linebacker Willie Taylor III of the XFL champion Arlington Renegades, according to his alma mater Eastern Kentucky.

The 6’2, 246-pound linebacker recorded four sacks, two forced fumbles, one interception, and eight tackles for loss in 12 games with the Renegades.

Taylor played the majority of his collegiate career for the Washington State Cougars before transferring to Eastern Kentucky for his senior season. With his new team, he recorded two sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss in 2022.

While playing with the Renegades, Taylor was eligible to be picked in the 2023 NFL draft.

“I think he’ll get an opportunity,” Renegades executive Rick Mueller told XFL.com of Taylor. “Whether he’ll get drafted or not doesn’t really matter — I don’t think to me or to him. He certainly has earned it, has done a good job and will get a chance in that league. That’s all you can ask for.”

In Jacksonville, Taylor will join a roster that is thin at outside linebacker. The team was near the bottom of the league in sacks last season and allowed both Arden Key and Dawuane Smoot to reach free agency. While the team drafted Yasir Abdullah in the fifth round in April, there’s still very little depth at the position.

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