Virginia football relied on sophomore outside linebacker Noah Taylor more as the 2019 season went on. He rewarded the confidence with quality play, including a standout performance against Virginia Tech. ~ Photo by Mike Ingalls

Noah Taylor arrived at The University of Virginia in January of 2018 as a speedy, long 6’5” outside linebacker prospect with a slender build. Early enrollment provided him with a valuable spring football experience and eight months in the Cavalier weight training program as he prepared for his first season of major college football.

Taylor appeared in nine of 13 games as a true freshman, seeing most of his action on special teams while learning behind senior Chris Peace. From Peace, Taylor says he learned “total effort, learned how to play hard, rush the quarterback, play physical. I learned everything.”

In the spring of 2019, Taylor exuded confidence thanks to a year in the strength program and a season of experience. The then-rising second year was pleased with how far he’d come in terms of learning all of the responsibilities of outside linebacker.

“When I was in high school, I was just focused on pass-rushing,” Taylor noted in the spring of 2019. “When I came here, I didn’t really know how to stop the run. That’s the thing I’ve been working on since I got here.”

Taylor earned a significant role as a sophomore last fall, and from the start his playmaking ability was on full display. In the first quarter of Virginia’s season opener at Pittsburgh, Taylor blocked a punt, setting up a touchdown that boosted the Hoos to a 10-0 lead. He notched the first sack of his promising young career the next game against William & Mary – the first of a string of five games in which the dynamic athlete would record at least one sack. His first collegiate sack helped the Cavalier defense hold William & Mary to a field goal after a turnover gave the Tribe possession at the UVA 13. Virginia led, 28-3, and cruised to a 52-17 victory.

Taylor played all 14 games for the Hoos in 2019, earning starts in 10 of those contests. He made plays behind the line of scrimmage and in coverage, leading the team in tackles for loss with 13.5 and finishing second behind senior Jordan Mack in sacks with 7.0 while also recording recorded four pass breakups and two interceptions.

“If the prospect’s not versatile, I don’t recruit ‘em,” said Virginia Co-Defensive Coordinator/Outside Linebackers Coach Kelly Poppinga said. “They have to be able to show on film the same things that we’re going to do with them in our scheme. Versatility to me is this – you look at Noah Taylor, for example. The guy can cover a guy man to man – that’s not just a tight end but also a receiver. The guy can drop into a half and play what a DB plays. He can rush off the edge. He can be our best pass rusher off the edge. He can set the edge as a 5 technique, which is basically a defensive end. That’s basically three positions right there. He’s being able to play a defensive end, a linebacker, and a safety. That’s the versatility that we’re looking at at that SAM backer position.”

“Versatility,” head coach Bronco Mendenhall said, “is one of Noah’s strengths. We used him in the secondary, we used him at linebacker, we used him in kind of a hybrid position. When I was at the University of New Mexico, we used Brian Urlacher in a similar capacity to how we used Noah. We have a saying, the more you can do, the more you can do and the more you can do, the more valuable you are so Noah is capable of the retention and the learning and the assignment volume of playing multiple spots so you’ll see him - I’m not sure. It’s kind of like when Taysom Hill was asked with the Saints what position he played and he said football. It’ll be similar with Noah Taylor.”

According to Pro Football Focus, Taylor played 673 snaps last season, sixth most on the defense overall and third most among the linebackers behind Zane Zandier (855) and Charles Snowden (779). Per PFF, Taylor finished with the second-highest overall defensive grade (76.7) on the team behind Eli Hanback. PFF awarded Taylor with a mark of over 70 in three of four defensive categories - an 89.7 in coverage, a 79.7 in tackling, and a 70.7 in pass rush. The coverage grade ranked fourth overall among all FBS linebackers who had at least 516 overall snaps. His tackle grade was tied for no. 27 overall among all FBS linebackers with 516 snaps. Taylor’s lowest mark was 60.8 on rush defense.

Versatility was indeed an asset as Taylor lined up as an edge rusher on the defensive line on 452 snaps, played 147 snaps across the slot corner, lined up in the box on 59 plays, lined up at wide corner on eight plays (six against Florida in the Orange Bowl) and lined up at free safety five times (four times against Florida).

“Noah, as the season went on, it seems like he was doing more and more things for us and making more and more plays,” Poppinga said.

If snap counts are an indication, the Virginia staff’s trust in Taylor grew as the season wore on. In the Cavaliers’ first eight games, the Silver Spring (MD) native played over 50 snaps in a game just once, against Florida State. He saw 54 or more snaps in every game in November as well as the ACC title game and the Orange Bowl, receiving 70 or more snaps versus Virginia Tech and Florida. Taylor responded with great efforts against the Hokies and Gators.

Taylor opened the defensive effort against Tech by sacking quarterback Hendon Hookier on the Hokies' first offensive play. He picked off Hooker twice - the second pick enabled the Hoos to take a 33-30 lead on the ensuing possession. Against Florida, Taylor finished with five tackles (four solo), two tackles for loss, and two pass breakups.

Taylor’s love of the game and determination to improve figure to serve him well as he seeks to build off an impressive sophomore campaign. Taylor, Charles Snowden, and Matt Gahm make up one of the top outside linebacker trios in the Atlantic Coast Conference and possibly the nation.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been around a kid that loves football as much as Noah,” Poppinga said. “He loves football. He’s always wanted to work out, he’s always wanting watch film, he’s always wanting to talk football, he’s always texting me and calling me and wanting to do Zoom calls to watch film with him. That just shows the commitment that this kid has and the passion he has for the game, which I love. It shows on the field.”

“I think because that kid is just constantly this offseason been pestering me every moment for more film of cut-ups of different players, NFL players that he’s wanted to watch that I’ve gotten film on for him, he’s just a student of the game," Poppinga continued. "We expect big things from him. He obviously expects bigger things from himself. Honestly, one thing that I get from Noah that I’ve not got from many players is the expectations that he has for himself is way more than anybody else could put on him, which is good. Myself, other coaches, maybe the media migh put expectations on him, but I promise you that kid has put way more expectations on himself than anyone else has. He wants to live up to those things that he wants to strive to do. I’m proud of what he’s done up to this point, but I know there’s a lot more in him. He’s gotten bigger, he’s gotten stronger, which I think held him back from making more plays last season, so I think with that size and that strength ... I’m anxious to see what that size and strength does for his game.”

Looking ahead towards 2020, Taylor has one game already circled on his calendar.