Bayard Taylor out of Columbus has some of the best grades of any interior lineman you can find in the state of Georgia. The seniors’ 4.484 GPA boldly stands out among his peers in the trenches, and on Week 9, his mental quickness to go along with his foot speed was put to the test.
Standing 5’11”, and 325 lbs, the stout defensive tackle lined up over his typical spot over center for a routine defensive play against their opponent in Shaw. Right at the snap, the big senior could tell something was afoul, and as the Shaw offensive linemen leaked defenders towards the QB, the 2019 senior was all to wise to the developing screen pass. Taylor drifted back, read the QB’s eyes positioning himself perfectly in the passing lane for a one-handed interception. But Taylor was not done yet, and with the end zone in-sight just 30 yards away, the senior barreled his way through the competition for a score.
Taylor’s play was the realization of so many big linemen’s dreams – a defensive touchdown off of a turnover. It was a huge one, and earned him the #1 play for our site, a spot on the Hudl top 5, and went viral via ESPN on Twitter.
So how exactly has the season gone for the big 2019 student-athlete? “My season has gone great and my teams season had gone great so far,” Taylor continued, “My goals for this season was to make All-State, make the playoffs and have some visits to colleges.”
Taylor is a 1st Team All Bi-City performer as well as a first team All-Region player after his strong junior campaign. Earlier this year, he went to Charleston Southern, but does not have any future visits on place at this moment.
Taylor is a powerful football player who plays on both sides of the football at center and nose guard. He’s the Iron Man on his team and capable of squatting over 600 lbs. and has pushed the envelope to 400 lbs. on the bench press. Simply put, Taylor is like a brick wall out there on the field, and defenders trying to blitz the A-gap meet an immovable object when engaged with Taylor.
High-academic schools should be all over Taylor with his +4.0 GPA and his outstanding 1320 on the SAT too. He’s a really high-character player who gives a tremendous effort on each play, which is impressive for a two-way lineman like Taylor. You don’t need to be an insider of the Columbus program to know how well liked Taylor is around the team, just watch the reaction as he enters the endzone on the pick-six play; he is basically mauled by his exhilarated teammates.
Stay tuned to more on the Columbus senior on @RecruitGeorgia on Twitter – there are not too many student-athletes with the chops he shows in the classroom and on the field, and no doubt a college will be getting a high-character student-athlete.
