Florida Football: Brien Taylor is a lanky menace along the defensive line

As Florida football works on restocking the cupboard for the 2024 season, the defensive line is one area the Gators need to continue to add depth to.

Yesterday, we chronicled their pursuit of Joey Slackman, and the Gators got some good news by grabbing one of the top JUCO players in the country.

Florida Football: Tall Taylor

Brien Taylor is a 6'5\" and 270-pound defensive lineman originally from Houston, TX. He was a zero-star prospect coming out of high school and enrolled at Blinn College in Houston, the same junior college Cam Newton spent a season of exile in over a decade ago after being kicked off the Gators.

His time at JUCO served Taylor well, and he emerged as the third-ranked JUCO defensive lineman by 247 Sports. In 13 appearances with Blinn, Taylor had 39 tackles, 9.5 of which were for a loss.

Taylor announced his commitment to the Gators yesterday.

In the limited film that does exist for Taylor, his size is evident. Taylor towers over opposing linemen and sometimes feels like a literal man among boys on the field. He is exceptionally athletic, and while we wouldn't classify him as a track star, he showcased little issue bringing down opposing QBs once he had a shot at them.

While Taylor is considered a top-10 JUCO prospect for this cycle, we are going to temper our expectations. Despite what dream Last Chance U sold, most JUCO stars don't go on to be high-impact players at the next level.

Diwun Black was the top-rated player in the 2021 class when he went to Florida football. He had seven tackles in two years with the Gators. Jeffrey M'ba was the top-ranked player for 2022 and has two sacks in two seasons. Malik Benson was the top player for 2023 and had 162 yards receiving this year with Alabama.

But Taylor fills a need, and even if he is a rotation guy, he should add value to the roster for 2024.