Patriots draft profile: Dadrion Taylor-Demerson could fill New England’s free safety need

Taylor-Demerson is one of the better safety prospects in this year’s draft.

The 2024 NFL Draft will be one of offense for the New England Patriots. That said, their needs go beyond just one side of the ball.

One of under-the-radar positions they might want to address is the safety spot. While Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers are one of the best one-two punches in the league, the depth behind them was thinned out a bit due to Jalen Mills leaving in free agency and Adrian Phillips getting released.

This, in turn, might prompt the Patriots to look at safety help on Day 3 of the draft. If so, Dadrion Taylor-Demerson is a name to watch.

Hard facts

Name: Dadrion Taylor-Demerson

Position: Safety

School: Texas Tech

Opening day age: 23 (1/20/2001)

Measurements: 5’10 3/8”, 197 lbs, 74 1/4” wingspan, 30 7/8” arm length, 9 5/8” hand size, 4.41 40-yard dash, 4.49 short shuttle, 7.0 3-cone, 38.0” vertical jump, 10’3” broad jump, 8.07 Relative Athletic Score

Experience

Career statistics: 50 games (36 starts) | 2,859 defensive snaps, 501 special teams snaps | 256 tackles, 44 missed tackles (14.7%), 2 forced fumbles | 10 quarterback pressures (2 sacks, 4 hits, 4 hurries) | 151 targets, 94 catches surrendered (62.3%), 1,350 yards, 10 TDs, 10 INTs | 5 special teams tackles, 4 missed tackles (44.4%) | 7 kickoff returns, 124 yards (17.7 yards/return)

Accolades: Second-team All-Pac 12 (2023), Honorable mention All-Big 12 (2021)

Despite rushing for 4,611 yards and 59 touchdowns in his high school career at Carl Albert in Midwest City, OK, Taylor-Demerson was only rated as a two-star recruit entering the college level. He also only received one power-five scholarship offer: from Texas Tech, where he made the move from running back to safety.

The transition paid off, and Taylor-Demerson developed into a reliable player for the Red Raiders. He appeared in 50 games with 36 starts over his five-year career in Lubbock, and put up some solid numbers as a rangy defensive back with a knack for the football. His 10 interceptions rank 10th all time in program history, and he was voted to a pair of All-Big 12 teams due to his production in the Texas Tech secondary.

Draft profile

Expected round: 4 | Consensus big board: No. 99 | Patriots meeting: N/A

Strengths: If you are looking for a safety capable of playing the centerfield role in single-high structures, Taylor-Demerson could be your guy. He is a rangy and experienced defensive back who offers the speed, acceleration and quickness to serve as a sideline-to-sideline defender at the next level. He also is an active communicator in the backend.

He he has shown he can perform well in both man and zone defenses, and is competitive when asked to cover from the slot or guard the deep portion(s) of the field. His natural feel for the game and what offenses attempt to do helps him do that, as does a versatile skillset that allows him to align in several positions beyond his usual free safety role. He also is an experienced special teamer with 501 career snaps in the game’s third phase.

Taylor-Demerson also knows how to track and play the ball in the air; beyond his 10 career interceptions, he also has 16 pass breakups to his name. A physical player when challenged in the passing game, he additionally has looked solid when playing down hill. He takes good attack angles in run support, has the vision to maneuver through traffic in backside pursuit, and has enough burst to be a problem as a blitzer off the edge.

Weaknesses: While he has good functional athleticism and some elite traits, Taylor-Demerson is not an all-around high-end athlete. The 3-cone (7.0) and short shuttle (4.49) times he posted at his pro day, for example, are rather pedestrian for a player who ran the fastest 40-yard dash among the 25 invited safeties at the Scouting Combine.

Taylor-Demerson also is undersized. His height (5’10 3/8”) and weight (197 lbs) lie in the 10th and 15th percentile for safety prospects, respectively, with his wingspan (74 1/4”) and arm length (30 7/8”) both in the 23rd percentile. This lack of size might also have contributed to some tackling issues: his combined missed tackle rate of 15.5 percent on defense and special teams is rather disappointing.

In addition, Taylor-Demerson also appears to be a bit too reactive rather than try to proactively impact the offense. He can get held in position a bit too much at times, rather than decisively breaking toward a play.

Patriots preview

What would be his role? Taylor-Demerson projects as a deep safety in a Patriots defense that likes to mix man and zone coverage looks. As such, he should be able to received regular opportunities from early on his career, presumable as a third or fourth option alongside starters Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers, and second-year hybrid Marte Mapu.

What is his growth potential? Given his suspect tackling in college, this is the first area of improvement for Taylor-Demerson. The more reliable he gets, the more chances he will get in single-high looks where a missed tackle can be the difference between a stop and a touchdown. New England also might try to focus more on his versatility as a player who can move to the slot or align in the box, despite being best suited to play in a free safety alignment.

Does he have positional versatility? Even though a majority of his collegiate snaps saw him align in that free safety role (52.1%), Taylor-Demerson also has plenty of experience elsewhere with the secondary. As noted above, he also was regularly used in the slot and the box, and even moved up to the edge and out wide on occasion. He also has seen action on five kicking game units: kickoff return and coverage, punt return and coverage, and field goal/extra point block.

Why the Patriots? Devin McCourty’s retirement last offseason left New England without a true deep centerfielder, forcing the team to use both Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers in that role. The pair performed reasonably well, but would be better suited to line up closer to the line of scrimmage on most plays. Adding a player like Taylor-Demerson would help them do that.

Why not the Patriots? The Patriots simply might not want to spend a pick this relatively early in the draft on a defensive player. While they would benefit from a true free safety, they simply have more pressing needs elsewhere on the roster. In addition, they also might want to expand Marte Mapu’s free safety usage after he was partially used in that fashion a year ago.

One-sentence verdict: In case New England doesn’t feel good about any offensive prospects with the 103rd overall pick, Taylor-Demerson might be worth the investment.

What do you think about Dadrion Taylor-Demerson as a potential Patriots target? Is he worth the investment early on Day 3? Will he even be around at that point in the draft? Please head down to the comment section to share your thoughts.