'21 AL WR Roc Taylor (Memphis signee)

[Tennessee Golfer]

I want this kid or Beckwith to be our Kyle Pitts.

 

[jakez4ut]

Boom

 

[GojiraVol17]

I want this kid or Beckwith to be our Kyle Pitts.

I dunno what it is or why, but Beckwith is probably one of my favorite newcomers....right next to HB. I think Dee (if he reaches his potential physically and develops his game) could be our Kelce type TE.

 

[GojiraVol17]

Yes he's a 3 star, but he has a good offer list. This one has some potential

Yeah especially if he grows any in height and you know he’ll bulk up. I could easily see 245 on that frame of his

 

[drvenner]

BOOM!!!!!

 

[Coach Punk]

I’m 48 and I’m faster than Larry Fitzgerald. But do you think I can cover him man 2 man? Nawp. Gotta have some guys who play above the rim and can win matchups where they don’t get great separation. I like the staff’s balance of getting athletic big guys and stupid-crazy fast guys.

 

[kamoshika]

Playing a key role in Oxford’s offense along with athletic 2021 quarterback and Mississippi State baseball commitment Trey Higgins, Taylor had 71 receptions for 1,316 yards and 17 touchdowns in an offense that also featured a 1,500 yard rusher in West Georgia commitment J.B. Carlisle.

Following his first season coaching Taylor on the way to winning a 6A state title, Oxford’s Keith Etheridge said everything about the physical wide receiver makes him a player colleges should be be excited about having on their roster for years to come.

“It’s just his competitiveness,” Etheridge said. “He’s a great competitor, but he has so much athletic ability. His hands are unbelievable. It’s like he’s got vacuums on his hands, he just snatches balls out of the air. He uses his body great. He’ll go up and get it. You can jump higher than him, but he’s still going to come down with the ball because of his body position and his hands. He runs great routes and he finds a way to get open. It doesn’t matter who is guarding him. He may be a 4.5 kid, but when the ball is in the air and you’re a 4.4 kid he’s outrunning you to it. He’s tenacious. Watch him block. He mashes folks. Whatever it takes to win is what he’s going to do.”
Big 2021 wide receiver one of Alabama's best juniors

Oxford coach Keith Etheredge has an unusual dilemma when it comes to rising senior receiver Roc Taylor. He has a hard time thinking of ways Taylor can improve. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a kid where I can’t think of something he doesn’t do well,” Etheredge said. “He’s unreal.”

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Taylor helped the Yellow Jackets to the Class 6A state championship a year ago. He was a first-team Alabama Sports Writers Association All-State selection. Etheredge compares him to Atlanta Falcons’ receiver and former Alabama star Julio Jones.

“Roc has probably got the best hands I’ve ever seen,” Etheredge said. “If the ball is near him, he’s going to catch it. He just tracks it and runs it down. He can do a little of everything. He’s hard to tackle because he’s so big and strong, but he also has the skill set of a wide receiver. I’ll just say that if the ball is in the air and he’s over there, I feel real, real good about the outcome...He does all the little things right. We use him on speed sweeps just to get the ball in his hands. He is a natural. He’s the same way on the basketball court. I think he probably averaged 18-20 points a game and 12-14 rebounds. He is a matchup nightmare no matter where he is."
'He's unreal:' Oxford 2021 WR/TE Roc Taylor turning heads

 

[T Dog]

Boom!

 

[T Dog]

Hands, size, competitiveness. Reminds me of J. Jennings. I really like how our recieving core is shaping up. Speed and size with competitiveness. And with HB and the QB's we in on for the next classes, plus how stout our OL is becoming, .

 

[Dumbledorange]

Hands, size, competitiveness. Reminds me of J. Jennings. I really like how our recieving core is shaping up. Speed and size with competitiveness. And with HB and the QB's we in on for the next classes, plus how stout our OL is becoming, .

CJP is doing it, what a relief after years of BS coaches, admins and cheerleaders. OK, the cheerleaders are cool.

 

[VolFreakJosh]

This kid should be a 4*.

I’ve seen higher ranked player’s film that isn’t impressive as his.

 

[LittleVol]

Nothing to complain about with this kid.

He is clearly a WR and a very good one.

 

[griddie]

Love this kids game. Kudos to our staff this kid will blow up this fall

 

[scvolfan7]

This kid should be a 4*.

I’ve seen higher ranked player’s film that isn’t impressive as his.

Yep. It’s way better than the Nixon kid we’ve been getting predictions for.

 

[Biggvol]

Boom!!

 

[TrippieRedd]

I think this kid and Merrill end up 4*’s and Nixon and Mosely stay 4*’s. Sort of like last years receiver class but more possession instead of speed.

 

[wuwh_08]

I like recruit threads like this. First post is recruit info, second post is a tweets saying we offered or is visiting, third post...committed. Subsequent posts in thread:

 

[Ron Swanson]

Playing a key role in Oxford’s offense along with athletic 2021 quarterback and Mississippi State baseball commitment Trey Higgins, Taylor had 71 receptions for 1,316 yards and 17 touchdowns in an offense that also featured a 1,500 yard rusher in West Georgia commitment J.B. Carlisle.

Following his first season coaching Taylor on the way to winning a 6A state title, Oxford’s Keith Etheridge said everything about the physical wide receiver makes him a player colleges should be be excited about having on their roster for years to come.

“It’s just his competitiveness,” Etheridge said. “He’s a great competitor, but he has so much athletic ability. His hands are unbelievable. It’s like he’s got vacuums on his hands, he just snatches balls out of the air. He uses his body great. He’ll go up and get it. You can jump higher than him, but he’s still going to come down with the ball because of his body position and his hands. He runs great routes and he finds a way to get open. It doesn’t matter who is guarding him. He may be a 4.5 kid, but when the ball is in the air and you’re a 4.4 kid he’s outrunning you to it. He’s tenacious. Watch him block. He mashes folks. Whatever it takes to win is what he’s going to do.”
Big 2021 wide receiver one of Alabama's best juniors

Oxford coach Keith Etheredge has an unusual dilemma when it comes to rising senior receiver Roc Taylor. He has a hard time thinking of ways Taylor can improve. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a kid where I can’t think of something he doesn’t do well,” Etheredge said. “He’s unreal.”

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Taylor helped the Yellow Jackets to the Class 6A state championship a year ago. He was a first-team Alabama Sports Writers Association All-State selection. Etheredge compares him to Atlanta Falcons’ receiver and former Alabama star Julio Jones.

“Roc has probably got the best hands I’ve ever seen,” Etheredge said. “If the ball is near him, he’s going to catch it. He just tracks it and runs it down. He can do a little of everything. He’s hard to tackle because he’s so big and strong, but he also has the skill set of a wide receiver. I’ll just say that if the ball is in the air and he’s over there, I feel real, real good about the outcome...He does all the little things right. We use him on speed sweeps just to get the ball in his hands. He is a natural. He’s the same way on the basketball court. I think he probably averaged 18-20 points a game and 12-14 rebounds. He is a matchup nightmare no matter where he is."
'He's unreal:' Oxford 2021 WR/TE Roc Taylor turning heads

 

[EdEcEko77]

I would guess his ranking is based off his speed, or lack thereof. He seems to have every other metric - size, competition, championship program, statistics.

He certainly looks the part.

 

[Geaux_Vols]

I am new when it comes to keeping up with recruiting so please bear with me. Is it normal for us to start off with lower ranked commits early in the cycle and then pick up bigger names as the season progresses? I may seem pessimistic but we are tied with Maryland with the lowest star avg per player in the top 25 on 247 (lower than Rutgers and Minnesota). Hopefully I'll eat my own words and just trust the coaching staffs evaluations since most of their recruits get major recruiting bumps.

This staff, by most accounts, is more interested in finding the right system guys than necessarily star chasing. They are confident in their evaluating abilities and seem okay relying on that over anything else. Because of that, what might be best for UT isn’t going to be the best looking 247 composite. Beyond that, they’re pretty decent closers and have reeled in some of the bigger fish at the last minute.

 

[rekinhavoc]

 

[EdEcEko77]

 

[cncchris33]

Hands, size, competitiveness. Reminds me of J. Jennings. I really like how our recieving core is shaping up. Speed and size with competitiveness. And with HB and the QB's we in on for the next classes, plus how stout our OL is becoming, .

Agree, Jauan Jennings is who I keep seeing in those highlights. Not a guy who is going to test well in athletic measurements, and his numbers in those drills seem to bear that out, but just a guy who can play football.

 

[cncchris33]

D.K. Metcalf 2.0

Outside of similar size, Roc actually seems to be the anti-DK Metcalf. DKM ran a 4.33 40 and a 40"+ vertical jump. He was a bit of a workout warrior/combine freak who people weren't sure would translate that athleticism to the field, which is mostly what caused him to slip to the end of the 2nd round.

Roc seems to be just the opposite. 4.84 40 and 28" vertical jump. But you clearly see it come together on the field. As others have mentioned, Jauan Jennings seems much more appropriate as a comparison.

And true, the gap in their athletic measurements could close as Roc matures and adds strength, speed, and agility in a college strength and conditioning program, but I think it is safe to assume he isn't going to close the gap entirely, and the same "knocks" on his current athletic profile, today, will continue to exist in 4 or 5 years. DK Metcalf is just an absolute freak.

 

[Bassmaster_Vol]

This staff, by most accounts, is more interested in finding the right system guys than necessarily star chasing. They are confident in their evaluating abilities and seem okay relying on that over anything else. Because of that, what might be best for UT isn’t going to be the best looking 247 composite. Beyond that, they’re pretty decent closers and have reeled in some of the bigger fish at the last minute.

The more I read about this guy the more excited I get. Sounds like he's going to be a guy like Calloway or Hyatt who moved up in the rankings all year long. He isn't going to stay ranked this low. But I feel there's going to be some major fish landed in this cycle. Really hope one of them is a CB