Back during the 2018 season, the Miami Dolphins waived defensive tackle Jordan Phillips, a former Dolphins second-round draft pick who’d failed to live up to his potential in over three years with the team. Phillips was subsequently claimed by the Buffalo Bills and fit right in to the team’s defensive line. Is Vincent Taylor the next failed Dolphins interior lineman to follow suit?
On Saturday, Taylor was promoted to the Bills active roster. He’d previously spent the past eight weeks of the 2019 season on Buffalo’s practice squad.
Taylor was drafted by the Dolphins in the sixth round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma State. The San Antonio native seemed to be a quality late-round find for Chris Grier. In his first season in Miami, Taylor appeared in 13 games and recorded 18 tackles and one pass defense despite being the fifth man on Adam Gase’s defensive tackle depth chart.
The following season, before suffering a foot injury during October of 2018, Taylor accumulated 27 tackles and 2.0 sacks in just eight games, leaving many to wonder why the Dolphins decided to part ways with him going into the 2019 season. The likely answer is that Taylor didn’t fit Brian Flores defensive scheme, one that happens to be quite different from that of former defensive coordinator Matt Burke who was employed during Gase’s tenure has head coach.
Now with the Bills, Taylor will attempt to follow in Phillips’ footsteps as a contributor for Sean McDermott’s defense up in Buffalo. Through seven games this season, Phillips has racked up 13 tackles, 5.0 sacks, and a forced fumble. That sack total is more than double his previous single-season career high (2.0). Taylor will get a chance to play against his former team in Hard Rock Stadium on November 17th, something he didn’t get to do when the teams squared off two weeks ago given his status as a practice squad player.