FILM STUDY: Hurricanes DT Leonard Taylor had one of his best games vs. Clemson … now Miami needs him to perform like that every game

The Leonard Taylor the Miami Hurricanes saw in the victory over Clemson on Saturday night is the same Leonard Taylor UM wants to see every time the ultra-talented Class of 2021 five-star DT steps on the field.

The guy who, in a 3-3 stack implemented for the game by coordinator Lance Guidry, didn’t just occupy and beat the center routinely but also beat guards and pulling tackles and was regularly pushing offensive linemen into the backfield.

The guy who played 56 reps, 14 more than he’s seen in any other game this season.

The guy who no longer is forced to answer questions about his consistency issues, as he was this week when he said, “My consistency I feel like I can improve on it more. I feel I still miss plays I’m supposed to make. I can just go a little harder to make the plays I should be making. I’m getting better, though. I do my job, but it can improve way more to a higher level.”

Indeed.

The question has been posed on the Good Morning CaneSport show before: How can a guy with this much talent not show up more consistently in games? Maybe Clemson was the big stepping stone the big man needed to start realizing his vast potential. Because with a dominant Taylor this Miami D is even better than its current No. 21 national rank in total defense along with No. 7 in rush D and No. 25 in scoring D.

A dominant Taylor alongside an already-dominant Rueben Bain (see our analysis of him here) plus when Akheem Mesidor gets back on the field? Good luck to an offense running plays without disruption.

This past weekend Taylor was a big part of the defensive front that held the Clemson run game in total check (31 total rush yards for the Tigers, long run of 17). Top back Will Shipley had 15 carries for 44 yards.

Despite some up and down play this year, Taylor has graded out very well per Pro Football Focus. His 86.2 season grade is second only to Rueben Bain’s 89.2 on the team, and he has a 79.0 run defense grade and 86.4 pass rush grade.

Nationally Taylor’s overall grade is seventh-best of any interior defensive lineman and his pass rush grade is second-best (Virginia Tech’s Pheldarius Payne grades out at 90.4 in pass rush).

He’s also noted by PFF with 16 QB hurries.

But Taylor’s reps count is confounding. He played only 15 in the opener, then 42 vs. Texas A&M with 14 in the blowout of Bethune-Cookman, perhaps understandably. Not so understandable is how he played 29 at Temple, 25 vs. Georgia Tech and 36 at North Carolina before the 56 he played this past weekend.

Is it conditioning? Is it consistent performance issues?

Probably a little of both.

But the bottom line is one of the nation’s most talented tackles has only played 217 of the team’s 455 total defensive reps. Yes, he’s played less than half the time. Even backup DT Jared Harrison-Hunte has played more reps than Taylor. Bain, a true freshman who began the year as a backup, has 80 more reps played.

So, as much as anything, Taylor needs to become that guy coaches KNOW they need on the field. A guy that will give 100 percent effort every single rep. A guy that will be disruptive and make plays.

Like against Clemson.

With all the above in mind, let’s take a look at a few of Taylor’s better plays from Saturday night to give an idea of the kind of force he can be when he’s at his best:

First quarter, 1-10 CLE50 (00:20) No Huddle-Shotgun #7 P.Mafah rush left for 4 yards gain to the MIA46 (#56 L.Taylor).

This is a designed run up the middle, and here you see Taylor lined up at nose (which he played quite a bit in the 3-3 stack). Taylor is immediately chipped by the center, who then moves on to attack and manhandle Corey Flagg, with the right guard as well as right tackle then engaging Taylor. So what does Taylor do? He is able to hold his ground while both bigger linemen are working to shove him backward, quickly disengaging as the ball carrier approaches and chasing him down from the backside. For good measure he shows his strength by almost picking up Mafah – a bigger back –and slamming him to the turf. If Taylor doesn’t make that play it’ll be up to Daryl Porter, Jr. to make the stop one-on-one or it’s going to be a long run.

Second quarter, 2-10 MIA30 (08:55) No Huddle-Shotgun #1 W.Shipley rush middle for 2 yards loss to the MIA32 (#56 L.Taylor).

Here you see Taylor at his traditional DT spot with four down linemen. At the snap you see Taylor’s great use of hands and quickness from the left side as he simply brushes off the right guard and twists into the backfield. The back blocking ahead of Will Shipley misses Taylor, who gets his hands on Shipley and throws him for a loss of two.

Second quarter, 1-10 CLE37 (05:50) No Huddle-Shotgun #2 C.Klubnik rush middle for 2 yards loss to the CLE35 (#56 L.Taylor).

This is a great example of the total disruption that Taylor can cause for an offense with his combination of power and quickness. Taylor lines up over center, and Clemson’s blocking scheme calls for the right guard to shift over at the snap to take on Taylor while the left tackle sprints behind the line to attack the left defensive end (the tight end is handling blocking responsibility on LB KJ Cloyd who is lined up at right end). Taylor’s quick burst off the line takes the right guard by surprise, and he’s left on the ground as he tries to catch up with Taylor from behind. Taylor gets right in QB Cade Klubnick’s face, forcing him to sprint forward, and Taylor gets an arm on Klubnik to help bring him down.

Second quarter, 2-24 CLE35 (02:45) No Huddle-Shotgun #1 W.Shipley rush middle for 0 yards to the CLE35 (#51 F.Mauigoa; #56 L.Taylor).

Here Taylor is in the 3-3 stack at nose tackle, and on a second-and-forever you see Clemson trying to get some yards back with the expectation the Tigers will be passing. Well, Taylor does his job. He takes on RG Harris Sewell and then LT Tristan Leigh, getting leverage on Sewell to the inside and then bouncing off Leigh before latching onto Will Shipley to make the tackle for no gain.

2ND OT PERIOD, 3-G MIA02, No Huddle-Shotgun #1 W.Shipley rush middle for 1 yard gain to the MIA01 (#56 L.Taylor; #81 J.Harrison-Hunte).

This is the second to last play of the game, a third-and-goal from the two, with Clemson trying to get a tying TD/two-point conversion. It’s been a long, physical game, but Taylor still shows the power and quickness to make this play. Taylor is man-to-man with the center as Miami has loaded the box to stop the anticipated run. And it’s designed to go up the gut with Shipley rushing right at Taylor, who is lined up at nose tackle. A key here that prevents the TD: Just before Shipley gets to the line, you’ll see Taylor violently throw center Will Putnam (who is desperately trying to force Taylor to the DT’s left) out of the way. That gives Taylor just the space he needs to dive in and stand up Shipley, who is then swarmed by other defenders. On the next snap, of course, it was Corey Flagg making the play to end the game.

The bottom line?

If Taylor can play at this level consistently he’s one of the most impactful defensive tackles in the nation.

Whatever it is that lit the fire under him to have him play like this … Miami needs to bottle it and feed it to him every gameday morning.

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