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The Eagles took linebacker Davion Taylor in the third round, and he spoke with the media afterward about his limited high school experience, his work ethic and eagerness to learn, and why he fits the team’s defensive scheme perfectly.
Also, Taylor says he’s never been to Philadelphia, but he’s excited to get there.
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He wasn’t able to play much in high school because of religious beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist, but his Mom’s rule was that at 18 years old, it was his decision. He decided to play football, but to also maintain his religion. Taylor said that he wasn’t even able to go to the games on Friday nights, but he would support the team by filling water bottles beforehand and would open his window to hear the loud speakers from just a few minutes away.
“Once I went into JUCO I wanted to learn.”
Taylor said he would go up to coaches and teammates after practice and was super eager to learn. He worked all the time and improved each game, and he wants to continue that same energy with the Eagles.
A lot of teams wanted to know if he was burnt out from trying to play catch-up with such a limited background, but it was the opposite. He’d ask for extra meetings, extra work, and do everything he could to be even more productive on the field.
On one specific area he feels he could improve, was, “Being more physical”.
Taylor has always been a physical linebacker, but he knows that things are going to faster and harder at the next level. He also wants to learn as much as he can about the game so he can just react rather than thinking too much.
The linebacker explained how the Eagles showed more interest in him after the Combine, and he got calls from Jim Schwartz and others on the staff. He didn’t think he’d end up with the Eagles, but he was really excited to get that call. Specifically, he said he loves the defense — he ran it in JUCO and a little bit in Colorado — and he asserted that he’s going to fit in “perfectly” with the scheme.