Relentless and committed, Taylor Hart runs a 4.87 40 at 6-6, 292. Last season the Webfoot defensive tackle/strongside defensive end was more productive than Dion Jordan, who went #3 in the NFL draft.
Hart, a throwback to high-motor, every-down-effort guys like Nick Reed and Brandon Bair, led all Duck defensive linemen in 2012 with 40 tackles, 24 solo, 11 tackles for loss, 8 sacks, 2 pass deflections, and a forced fumble.
Lunch pail player: Taylor Hart’s values, honed in the family lumber yard, show on every snap he plays on the Oregon defense. (footballsfuture.com photo)
Oregon has so many good players fans forget how good some of the quiet ones are. A survey of NFL draft sites quickly dispels the notion that the Tualatin High grad is just a role player. Cbssports.com ranks him 7th out of all 3-4 senior defensive ends in college football, ahead of Oregon State’s Scott Crichton (10th), Stanford’s Ben Gardner (8th) or Jackson Jeffcoat from Texas, the son of a former NFL player who was much more highly touted as a recruiting prospect. Even before what promises to be a productive senior season, scouts and draft experts project Hart for the second round.
He could go to Chip Kelly as the first Duck Kelly chooses for the Philadelphia Eagles. When Hart was a sophomore, Kelly told Oregonian reporter Ken Goe how high he was on his versatile emerging line star. “Unbelievable work ethic in practice,” Kelly said, “He practices with a passion and he plays with a passion. He doesn’t say ‘boo.’ He just comes to work, every single day.”
Goe revealed that as an underclassman Hart roomed with Michael Clay and taught the Californian how to fish and target shoot. He learned the work ethic as a young boy, toting stacks of lumber in the yard and warehouse run by his father and grandfather.
Hart explained to Rob Moseley in a story for the Register-Guard, “They taught me to earn everything, and that I need to work hard,” Hart said. “And I’ve tried to apply that to football.”
What sets Taylor apart on Game Day is his mobility and desire. Watch a chunk of Oregon defensive film and you’ll see him pursue sideline to sideline, pushing and grinding to the whistle on every play. He has remarkable range for a big man, chasing down backs at the second level, wrapping up tailbacks trying to cut back 10-15 yards downfield. In pass rush he simply never gives up, a load to handle in the middle with his quickness, long athletic body and strength.
Quiet, cheerful and unassuming off the field, Hart is a “Mission Impossible” stealth assassin on it. Against Washington State last year he had four tackles and a sack:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PUvEnkAmXxU
Two and half weeks later, in a Thursday night game against Taylor Kelly and 5-1 ASU, Hart came up big with five tackles and a sack, getting into the frame on play after play:
Hart’s best game of the year may have been the Civil War, completely disrupting the Beaver offense in a 48-24 victory, again with four tackles and a sack. For a gentle guy, the former Timberwolf likes to smash people:
Once rated the number one prep recruit in the state by Super Prep Magazine, he’s put together a solid Oregon career with marked improvement each season. He told an Oregon Daily Emerald reporter that he credits his father and grandfather for teaching him the worth of “hard, physical labor” in the family business.
“They would just never let me quit,” Hart said. “They would just never let me give up or pout when I was younger. They would always make sure I finished what I started.”
Steeped in Northwest values, Hart was destined to be a Duck. His father is an Oregon alum, and Taylor attended his first home game at age 8. His athleticism came from his mother, who was a volleyball player at Fresno State.
In 2013, expect Taylor Hart to finish what he started.
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