Adarius Taylor

BIOGRAPHY

Adarius Taylor was born on September 21st, 1990, in Bartow, Florida. He is a linebacker in the NFL.

He first enrolled at Eastern Arizona College before transferring to Florida Atlantic University. He attended Lake Gibson High School in Lakeland, Florida. He has also been a member of the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Taylor participated in football, track and basketball for the Lake Gibson High School Braves. On college, as a sophomore in 2011, Talylor was named first team All-Arizona Community College Athletic Conference after registering 85 tackles, 5.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. He was part of a defense that led the conference and ranked 11th in the nation in total defense. In his first year at FAU in 2012, he played in 12 games with seven starts, notching 75 tackles, one sack and two interceptions, tying for the team lead. Adarius earned All-Conference USA honorable mention as a senior in 2013, starting 11 of 12 games, tallying 75 tackles, 2.5 sacks, one pass defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Taylor spent the final two seasons (2012-13) at Florida Atlantic, following two years at Eastern Arizona Community College. He played in 24 games, with 18 starts for FAU, totaling 150 tackles, 5 sacks, two interceptions, two passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

On May 10, 2014, the Carolina Panthers signed Taylor to a three-year contract. Throughout training camp, Taylor competed for a roster spot against Anthony Morales, Jason Williams, and Denicos Allen. On August 30, 2014, Taylor was waived as part of the Panthers’ final roster cuts, but was signed to the team's practice squad the following day.

On October 19, 2014, Taylor made his professional regular season debut at the Panthers’ lost 38-17 at the Green Bay Packers. On December 21, 2014, Taylor earned his first career start in place of A. J. Klein who sustained an ankle injury the previous week. Taylor finished the Panthers’ 17-13 win against the Cleveland Browns with a season-high six combined tackles. In Week 17, Taylor recorded five combined tackles and forced the first fumble of his career during a 34-3 win at the Atlanta Falcons. He finished his rookie season in 2014 with 12 combined tackles (eight solo) in ten games and two starts. On November 30, 2015, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Taylor off of the Panther's practice squad. Head coach Lovie Smith named Taylor the third middle linebacker on the depth chart, behind Kwon Alexander and Bruce Carter. Taylor appeared in five games, primarily on special teams, and did not record a statistic during the 2015 NFL season.

On November 3, 2016, Taylor collected a season-high six solo tackles during the Buccaneers’ 43-28 loss against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 9. On January 1, 2017, against the Carolina Panthers, long snapper Andrew DePaola suffered a torn ACL late in the third quarter. Taylor then served as the long snapper for a successful extra point late in the fourth quarter to help the Buccaneers win by a score of 17–16. He finished the 2016 NFL season with 13 combined tackles (11 solo) in 16 games and zero starts. On February 28, 2017, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers assigned a one-year, tender to Taylor as a restricted free agent.

In Week 3, Taylor collected a season-high eight combined tackles during a 34-17 loss at the Minnesota Vikings. On October 5, 2017, Taylor recorded seven combined tackles, forced a fumble, and made his first career sack during a 19-14 loss against the New England Patriots in Week 5. Taylor sacked Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady for a six-yard loss in the third quarter and forced a fumble by Brady that was recovered by teammate Will Clarke. On December 18, 2017, Taylor started in place of Lavonte David who was inactive due to a hamstring injury and made four combined tackles before being carted off the field during the third quarter of the Buccaneers’ 24-21 loss against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 15. Taylor sustained a broken tibia and fibula after colliding with teammate Robert Ayers as both attempted to sack Falcons’ quarterback Matt Ryan. On December 20, 2017, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers officially placed Taylor on injured reserve. Taylor finished the 2017 NFL season with 31 combined tackles (22 solo), one pass deflection, and one sack in 14 games and four starts.

During training camp, Taylor competed against Devante Bond to be the starting strongside linebacker. The role was left vacant after Kendell Beckwith sustained a broken ankle during a car accident. Head coach Dirk Koetter named Taylor the strongside linebacker to begin the regular season, alongside Lavonte David and middle linebacker Kwon Alexander. In Week 9, he collected a season-high nine combined tackles (four solo) during a 42-28 loss at the Carolina Panthers. On March 14, 2019, Taylor signed a two-year contract with the Cleveland Browns.