Rags-to-riches stories are commonplace in the NFL, and the New England Patriots wrote their own in 2025. Coming off consecutive 4-13 campaigns, they manufactured a lightning-fast turnaround under first-year head coach Mike Vrabel, and ended up advancing all the way to the Super Bowl.
Nestled within that bigger narrative were multiple individual ones, including that of defensive tackle Leonard Taylor. He went from the depths of one of the worst teams in football to the biggest stage in the NFL last
year, and is now trying to add more chapters to his story.
Hard facts
Name: Leonard Taylor III
Position: Defensive tackle/Interior defensive line
Jersey number: 93
Opening day age: 24 (5/29/2002)
Measurements: 6’3 1/2”, 305 lbs, 9” hand size, 33 7/8” arm length, 80 5/8” wingspan, 5.12s 40-yard dash, 7.68s 3-cone drill, 4.71s short shuttle, 30” vertical jump, 9’1” broad jump, 7.60 Relative Athletic Score
Experience
NFL: New York Jets (2024-25), England Patriots (2025-) | College: Miami (2021-23)
A standout defensive lineman at Miami Palmetto in Pinecrest, FL, Taylor was ranked a five-star college recruit and his offers looked accordingly. His first scholarship opportunity came courtesy of the University of Miami back when he was still a high school sophomore, and he later saw other high-profile schools such as Alabama, Ohio State and Tennessee all enter the mix. Miami remained in the race throughout, however, and was able to secure him coming out.
In three seasons with the Hurricanes, Taylor saw action in 31 games with 19 starts. A one-time honorable All-ACC selection, he registered six sacks as well as 61 tackles and an interception during his college career. While he could have stayed put for another season, he decided to skip his senior campaign to enter the NFL Draft — a decision that did not result in him getting selected: he failed to hear his name called, and he instead had to enter rookie free agency.
Taylor subsequently signed with the Jets, with whom he spent the first one and a half seasons of his career. He later joined the Patriots midway through the 2025 season, bringing his career total to a combined 23 regular season and playoff games. He has 36 tackles and 1.5 sacks on his résumé.
Scouting report
Strengths: Taylor is a well-put-together interior lineman whose long limbs and adequate height allow him to be used in a multi-purpose fashion. He combines his frame with some good moving skills, both laterally and when working up the field. His quickness can catch offensive linemen off guard and allows him to exploit gaps before they can close, while he also has the motor to simply will himself to positive results. He plays with some powerful hands, both in terms of applying an initial punch and bringing down ball carriers. He also has shown some real strides as a tackler since his college days.
Weaknesses: Taylor never lived up to his five-star status coming out of high school, in part due to some shortcomings that still exist to this day. Among them is his lack of agility and lower-body flexibility. He also continues to struggle with keeping his pad level low, and can too easily find himself out-leveraged and moved off the point of attack; that has been a particular problem in the run game, where his consistency and ability to control gaps has been lacking. His rush plan also could use some fine-tuning given that his hands tend to be all over the place especially after first contact.
2025 review
Stats (Jets): 2 games (0 starts) | 47 defensive snaps (12.3%), 13 special teams snaps (7.5%) | 3 tackles, 0 missed tackles, 1 TFL | 0 penalties
Stats (Patriots): 7 games (0 starts) | 122 defensive snaps (13.3%), 17 special teams snaps (4.3%) | 9 tackles, 1 missed tackle (10.0%) | 7 QB pressures (1 hit, 6 hurries) | 1 field goal block | 0 penalties
Season recap: Spending his entire rookie campaign on the Jets’ active roster even as an undrafted free agent, Taylor’s career got off to a promising start. However, he was unable to build any momentum from that point on, at least in New York. Working under a new coaching staff, he appeared in just two games over the first six weeks of the season.
His eventual release in mid-October was therefore not much of a surprise. Neither was Taylor finding a new home fairly quickly after clearing waivers: just two days after getting cut by what was then an 0-6 Jets team, he was signed to the Patriots’ practice squad.
Taylor spent the remainder of the 2026 there, but along the way saw some serious playing time. He was elevated to the game day roster on three occasions during the regular season — the maximum allowed under NFL rules — and four times in the playoffs, appearing in a combined seven contests for his new club and playing 122 defensive snaps.
Of those 122 snaps, 70 came in the playoffs as a de facto injury replacement for rookie Joshua Farmer. While still only New England’s No. 5 interior lineman in playing time share in the tournament, the Patriots trusting him in the sport’s ultimate perform-or-else setting speaks for itself. Taylor himself was able to show why the team kept calling his number, registering three quarterback pressures in the playoffs and making one of the its biggest plays.
Taylor getting a hand on Broncos kicker Wil Lutz’s potential game-tying 45-yard field goal in the late fourth quarter of the AFC Championship Game forced the ball off its intended course and past the uprights. This allowed the Patriots to retain a narrow 10-7 lead they would hold on to all the way to the final whistle. As a consequence, Taylor helped his new team punch its ticket to the Super Bowl just three months after being let go by arguably the worst one in the league at that point.
That fact alone made his second year in the league a success, and one of the best plot lines of New England’s 2025 season.
2026 preview
Position: 3-/4-/5-technique defensive tackle | Ability: Depth player/Role player | Contract: Signed through 2026 (2027 RFA)
What will be his role? Taylor spent his first training camp in New England working as a second-string interior lineman primarily focused on rushing the passer. He found some success in that area against his teammates, during joint practices, and in preseason. Based on his usage over the summer, he projects as a pass-first rotational backup at the defensive tackle position.
What is his growth potential? Taylor has some athletic skill and an NFL-caliber frame, but — just like in college — has failed to put it all together and become a consistent contributor. Chances are he never will be, at least from an all-around three-down perspective, but he can still build a career off of providing value as a package and depth player.
Does he have positional versatility? Like other 300-plus-pound defensive tackles, Taylor offers limited versatility. He can play multiple techniques up front, but is best suited to take the field on late downs and in obvious passing situations. He also showcased his special teams abilities last season and should be able to regularly line up alongside the field goal and extra point blocking teams.
What is his salary cap situation? Taylor was one of several practice squad players to sign a one-year futures contract with the Patriots after the Super Bowl. The deal consists entirely of a $1.075 million base salary that is non-guaranteed and simultaneously functions as his cap number.
How safe is his roster spot? Despite spending significant time with the second-string defense in training camp, Taylor finds himself on the roster bubble. His pass-first skillset offers an alternative to the likes of fellow defensive tackles Joshua Farmer and Eric Gregory, who are both more run-game options, but the team will need to be confident that he knows how to put it to good use to keep him around.
Summary: Even if Taylor fails to make the initial 53-man roster out of camp, the Patriots would likely be interested in bringing him back via the practice squad. And as last season showed, he could still have an impact from there.
What do you think about Leonard Taylor heading into the 2026 season? Will a full offseason in New England help his development? Will he end up on the 53-man team? Please head down to the comment section to share your thoughts with the rest of the community.
