Alontae Taylor talks Tennessee, excitement to begin NFL career

Tennessee defensive back Alontae Taylor put on a show at the NFL Combine early this month and now has an opportunity to showcase his skills again at his Pro Day before finding out what team he will play for at the next level in April. The senior had his best collegiate season in 2021 and has built on that success during the offseason.

On the day before his Tennessee Pro Day exercise in front of more NFL scouts, Alontae Taylor broke down what it means to be so close to his dream, along with his message to himself about this process.

“Just kind of saying to myself that this is what I dreamed of,” said Taylor, via Karthik Venkataraman. “I’m finally here now and I deserve it. I feel like, for the first time, I kind of sat down and was like: ‘You really worked your tail off for this. You deserve to be here, and this is where you’re supposed to be. So just take it all in and enjoy the moment and don’t let it go by too fast so that I can have a story to one day tell my kids.’”

Over four seasons at Tennessee, Taylor played in 44 games and made 162 tackles. He finished his collegiate career with four interceptions, including a pick six and forced three fumbles.

Josh Heupel on Alontae Taylor

When Alontae Taylor opted out of Tennessee’s bowl game this season in order to kickstart the preparation process for the future he dreamed about, head coach Josh Heupel gave a detailed answer on the value of the player.

“I think for Alontae, I had an opportunity to sit down with him at the back end of it, he’s very thoughtful, he took the information, understood potentially where he was slotted, and made a good decision for him,” Heupel said. “At the end of the day, you guys have heard me say this, you want to be able to give good concrete information to kids to help them make a really sound decision for themselves. I feel like Alontae did that. We’re going to help and support him in every way as he goes through the draft process.

“He’s been a great leader from the time he stepped on campus for us. For me, he’s been a great resource in helping to build the foundation for Tennessee football. A guy that battled through injury the last three weeks of the season and things that not very many people knew. It’s an opportunity for him to get back and get healthy before he ends up in that draft process.”