Falcons reportedly will sign DT Vincent Taylor

The Falcons have added to almost every position group on the roster this offseason, but curiously, they hadn’t done much with the interior of their defensive line to this point. When you have Grady Jarrett and a couple of really interesting young players in Ta’Quon Graham and Marlon Davidson you have a nice start, but more depth is clearly needed.

Enter Vincent Taylor, who the Falcons worked out last week and who will reportedly sign with the team.

Taylor entered the 2021 season as a starter for the Houston Texans, but a major injury suffered in Week 1 knocked him out for the rest of the season. The former sixth-round pick has played for four teams since entering the league in 2017, with Houston offering his first chance to start, and will now land on an Atlanta team that could use his strength as they retool their defensive front a bit.

While he hasn’t gotten a ton of run on defense, Taylor was a kick-blocking machine in college and blocked two field goal tries in his rookie season, and that’d be a fun thing to see translate over to his time in Atlanta.

If the team doesn’t make any huge changes along their defensive front, it’s probably fair to expect Taylor to snag 20-25% of the defensive snaps as a reserve, which would be in line with his career numbers to this point and what Ta’Quon Graham offered as a reserve in his rookie season. A fine run defender and (at least to this point in his NFL career) limited pass rusher, Taylor will also get some run on special teams with that passion for blocking field goals. We haven’t seen his contract yet, but Taylor figures to be yet another affordable short-term addition to the roster, and one with a solid track record at his previous stops.

Give Taylor a warm welcome to Atlanta!