Taylor was also a track and field athlete for Boise State, and recorded a personal best in the 100 meters of 10.72 seconds in 2012.
Professional career
He received an invitation to the NFL combine and completed all of the required combine and positional drills. On March 21, 2013, he participated at Boise State's pro day and opted to perform only positional drills. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Taylor was projected to be a first or second round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the fourth best cornerback prospect in the draft by Sports Illustrated, the fifth best cornerback by DraftScout.com, and the sixth best cornerback by NFL analyst Mike Mayock.[2][3]
The Miami Dolphins selected Taylor in the second round (53rd overall) of the 2013 NFL draft.[5] The pick used to draft him was acquired in a trade that sent Vontae Davis to the Indianapolis Colts.[6] He was one of three defensive backs selected by the Dolphins in the 2013 NFL Draft, along with Will Davis (third round) and Don Jones (seventh round).
2013
On June 13, 2013, the Miami Dolphins signed him to a four-year, $3.62 million contract with $2 million guaranteed.[7][8]
On September 30, 2013, he made his professional regular season debut during a 17-38 loss to the New Orleans Saints and made one tackle. He played in nine games his rookie year finishing with three total tackles.[11]
On November 13, 2014, Taylor earned his first career start after Cortland Finnegan was unable to play after sustaining an ankle injury the game prior.[14] He finished the 22-9 win against the Buffalo Bills with a season-high seven solo tackles. The next game, he earned six solo tackles in a 36-39 loss to the Denver Broncos and suffered a dislocated shoulder during the game that sidelined him for the next three games.[15] On December 23, 2014, he was placed on injured reserve.[16] He finished the season with 31 combined tackles (30 solo) in 12 games and three starts.[17]
2015
Taylor attended training camp in 2015 and competed with Will Davis, Brice McCain, Bobby McCain, and Zack Bowman for the second cornerback job left vacant by the retirement of Cortland Finnegan.[18] He started the regular season behind Brent Grimes, Brice McCain, and Zack Bowman on the Dolphins' depth chart.
In the Miami Dolphins' season-opening 17-10 victory over the Washington Redskins and recorded a season-high nine combined tackles and made his first career pass deflection. On October 25, he earned his first start of the season after Brice McCain was sidelined with a knee injury he suffered the previous week.[19] Taylor finished the 44-26 victory over the Houston Texans with seven combined tackles and a pass deflection. He started Weeks 7-12 and was a healthy scratch for four of the last five games of the season after struggling. Interim head coach Dan Campbell replaced Taylor on the active roster with Tony Lippett.[20] He played in 12 games with six starts finishing the year with 48 tackles (35 solo), four pass deflections, and a fumble recovery.[11]
Cleveland Browns
On April 30, 2016, Taylor was traded to the Cleveland Browns along with a seventh round pick (250th overall) in the 2016 NFL draft for the Browns' seventh round pick (223rd overall) in the same draft. The Dolphins used the selection to draft quarterback Brandon Doughty.[21]
He started the Browns' 10-29 season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, finishing with five solo tackles. On September 25, 2016, Taylor recorded a solo tackle, defended a pass, and made the first interception of his career, intercepting Miami Dolphins' quarterback Ryan Tannehill in a 24-30 overtime loss.[24] The following game, he collected a season-high seven combined tackles, deflected a pass, and intercepted a pass from Kirk Cousins in a 20-31 loss to the Washington Redskins.[25] In Week 16, he made five combined tackles, deflected three passes, and intercepted Philip Rivers as the Browns earned their first win of the season during a 20-17 victory over the San Diego Chargers.[26] Through his first 11 games and 10 starts as a Brown, Taylor has set career highs with three interceptions and eight passes defended. He finished his first season in Cleveland with 57 combined tackles (46 solo), career-high 13 pass deflections, and a career-high three interceptions in 14 starts and 15 games.[11]
On December 10, 2016, the Cleveland Browns signed Taylor to a three-year, $16.5 million contract extension with $5.5 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $3 million.[27]
2017
The Cleveland Browns named Taylor their starting cornerback to begin the regular season, alongside Jason McCourty.[28]
During a Week 2 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, he recorded a career-high nine combined tackles.[29] On December 24, 2017, Taylor recorded a half-sack against the Chicago Bears, the first sack of his career.[30] He finished the season playing in all 16 games, starting 15, recording a career-high 62 tackles along with 10 pass deflections.[11]
On May 18, 2018, Taylor was traded to the Arizona Cardinals for a sixth round draft pick in the 2020 NFL draft.[31] The Cleveland Browns placed Taylor on the trade block after signing free agent cornerbacks T. J. Carrie and E. J. Gaines and drafting Denzel Ward on the first round of the 2018 NFL draft. He became the sixth Browns player traded by new Browns' general manager John Dorsey.[32] He played in 10 games, starting three, before being released on November 19, 2018.[33]
On May 9, 2019, Taylor signed with the Seattle Seahawks.[35] He was released on August 31, 2019.[36] He was re-signed on September 10, 2019.[37] On November 20, 2019, Taylor was waived by the Seahawks.[38]
Taylor signed with the San Francisco 49ers on July 6, 2020.[40] He was released on September 3, 2020.[41] He was re-signed to the practice squad on October 2, 2020.[42] He was elevated to the active roster on October 3 for the team's week 4 game against the Philadelphia Eagles.[43] He recorded his first career full sack on Carson Wentz in the game,[44] and reverted to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on October 10.[45]
In Week 7 against the New England Patriots, Taylor intercepted two passes, one thrown by first string Cam Newton and one thrown by second string Jarrett Stidham, during the 33–6 win. This was the first time Taylor intercepted a pass since 2016.[46] In a week 11 game against the Los Angeles Rams, Taylor suffered a torn ACL that would cause him to miss the remainder of the season. He was placed on injured reserve on December 1, 2020.[47]