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- Zac Taylor is currently the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals.
- Around this time 15 years ago, however, he was showing his stuff at the NFL Combine.
- His performance in Indianapolis is going viral as this year’s Combine takes place this week.
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When discussing some of the great quarterbacks of the early 2000s and some of the best signal-callers to play at Nebraska, Zac Taylor is often forgotten. The Cincinnati Bengals head coach was once a record-setting passer for the Cornhuskers and absolutely dominated opposing Big 12 defenses.
With the 2022 NFL Combine set to take place this week, video from Taylor’s combine has gone viral. The 23-year-old Taylor was slinging the pill around the field in an oversized t-shirt and baggy shorts.
Take a look:
Here are his (not super impressive) numbers from the 2007 NFL Combine:
- 40-Yard Dash: 5.08 seconds
- Vertical Leap: 30.5 inches
- 20-Yard Shuttle: 4.60 seconds
- Three-Cone Drill: 7.39 seconds
As Kyle Brandt pointed out, his hand size was particularly interesting. Taylor was measured at the combine and checked in with nine-inch hands.
Nine years later, Taylor was the quarterbacks coach with the Rams, who drafted Jared Goff. Goff also measured-in with nine-inch hands.
Five years later, Taylor was/is the head coach of the Bengals, who drafted Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow’s hands were also measured at nine inches during the NFL Combine.
Just one of those weird, unique connections.
Although he ended up going undrafted and spent only one training camp in the NFL, people forget that Taylor was a baller in his own right.
As a high schooler, Taylor set records at Norman High School in Norman, Oklahoma but was significantly under-recruited. He was passed on by his hometown school, the Oklahoma Sooners, and signed with Wake Forest in 2002.
However, after two years in redshirt and backup roles, Taylor transferred to Butler Community College and had a breakout year. He led his team to the NJCAAA championship game and was rated as a three-star recruit out of JUCO.
And then it was on to Nebraska.
After finding a groove toward the end of his first year in Lincoln, Taylor threw the ball over the field as a fifth-year senior. He recorded 3,197 yards and 26 touchdowns through the air and, although the Cornhuskers went only 9-5, he earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.
Cincinnati is not in the market for a quarterback in 2022, at least not in the early rounds, but it is fun to see a Super Bowl coach who has been there, done that, scouting in Indianapolis.