Ravens hosted Ed Reed’s cousin for a pre-draft visit

The Ravens brought in Trey Taylor for one of their top 30 visits.

The Baltimore Ravens are all set at their two starting safety spots with veteran Marcus Williams and first team All-Pro Kyle Hamilton. However, they are in need of more depth at the position following the departure of Geno Stone, who signed with the Cincinnati Bengals in free agency.

One of the most likely avenues where his replacement will come from is the 2024 NFL Draft, and a prospect at the position that they’ve shown interest in has family ties to a franchise legend. On Wednesday, the Ravens hosted former Air Force standout safety Trey Taylor, cousin of Hall of Fame safety Ed Reed for one of their top 30 pre-draft visits.

Taylor had a sensational final collegiate season which earned him the 2023 Jim Thorpe Award. The prestigious honor is given to the top defensive back in all of college football and factors in production, playmaking ability, and high character. He also received the Defender of the Nation Award, which is awarded to a college football player from one of the service academies who exemplifies exceptional leadership and integrity as well as excellence on and off the field.

The knack for being a ball-hawking playmaker definitely didn’t skip Taylor’s generation as he recorded career highs across the board on his way to earning first-team All-Mountain West honors as a senior. In 13 games, he recorded 74 total tackles, including five for a loss three interceptions and four pass breakups.

Much like his cousin, Taylor showed he can be an impact player on special teams as well, blocking a field goal attempt last season. He attended the 2024 East-West Shrine game and impressed so much during the week of practice with how he led others and performed on the field that he was named the Pat Tillman Practice Player of the Week.

This year’s draft isn’t viewed as very deep at safety which made it so perplexing when Taylor didn’t receive an invite to the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. Nevertheless, he put on an impressive display of athleticism at his pro day.

According to the Denver Gazette, he posted a 4.53 in the 40-yard dash, 10-foot-3 in the broad jump, 37.5 in the vertical leap, a 4.12 in the short shuttle, a 6.90 in the 3-cone drill, and 22 reps on the bench press. He produced a Relative Athletic Score of 9.33 out of 10 with good composite grades in speed, size, and explosion.

The Ravens have been able to develop high-quality starters at the safety position out of prospects they selected on Day 3 of the draft, with the three most recent examples being Chuck Clark (2017), DeShon Elliott (2019), and Geno Stone (2020). Taylor will be a prospect to monitor when the Ravens are on the clock on Day 3.