Enjoy your final Saturday without college football, people who don't love college football. For the rest of us, we've almost made it. One more work week to go.
We've got 5 days until kickoff, so today we'll be highlighting #5 on the Boise State roster: Jamar Taylor.
#5, Jamar Taylor, Senior, CB
Stats
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 196 lbs.
High School: Helix High School, San Diego, CA
How'd he get to The Blue™?
Taylor was named to the All-CIF team in both his junior and senior seasons and received first team All-East County League honors both years as well. As a senior, Jamar made 50 tackles, 4 interceptions, 3 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble and a fumble recovery while totalling 65 tackles, 11 pass breakups, 3 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries as a junior. Taylor was named East County League Defensive Most Valuable Player his senior season and was rated a 3-star recruit by Scout.com. He fielded offers from Idaho, Colorado State, and New Mexico. Ha! Idaho! Could you imagine?
Nickname
Jamarvelous
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Look-a-like
Carlton Banks
Career highlights
Played in 13 games as a true freshman in 2008. Named to the All-WAC academic team. Started 12 games in 2010 and was again named to WAC All-Academic team.
Played and started in nine games his junior year, where he was the team's No. 1 corner down the stretch and a burr in the side of Arizona State quarterback Brock Osweiler. Taylor's 100+-yard INT return for a score in the Las Vegas Bowl is the most literal of career highlights.
2012 prospectus
You like your cornerbacks to be a little cocky, which is why it is tons of fun to hear quotes like this from Taylor's cornerback-in-crime, Jerrell Gavins:
We plan on being the best, and that's what we're going to be - the best in the Mountain West, the best in college football. It is what it is. Anybody got a problem with it, any receiver, just come see us.
By all appearances, Taylor and Gavins seem up to the task of being one of the best corner tandems in the country. Both fought injuries last year (Gavins lost his fight to ACL carnage, Taylor won his against his knee), and both return with added motivation to make this year something special.
Taylor's 2011 was rather special in its own right. When the great exodus of Bronco seniors left for the pros, Taylor was the one guy that Boise State fans wondered if he would follow. He chose to stay, and his NFL prospects for 2013 should be the better for it.
His final 2011 numbers won't smack you in the face. He had two picks, although both were in spectacular fashion - the 100-yard TD return in the Vegas bowl and a spectacular, acrobatic pick versus Fresno. For his career, Taylor only has three picks, which is an astonishingly low number for a player of his caliber. Expect that number to increase this year. Taylor should continue his solid, lock-down play, and when teams aren't sure whether to avoid Gavins or Taylor, one of them is sure to benefit ... with picks.
Completely made up fact
Jamar Taylor and Jerrell Gavin's sand volleyball workouts are the muse for the next movie in the Step Up franchise.