Oklahoma State's Jason Taylor II 'just can't wait' to hear name called at NFL Draft

STILLWATER — Jason Taylor II finished his drills at Oklahoma State’s Pro Day last month and immediately began chatting with NFL scouts inside the Sherman Smith Training Center.

Then he visited with a couple more.

Afterward, he walked outside, where OSU’s special teams players were going through drills, and he was told by an OSU staff member that the Minnesota Vikings' scout wanted to speak to him.

Before long, all the Pro Day events had concluded and the field was being cleared for the Cowboys’ practice later that day. Yet there were Taylor and a Chicago Bears representative, sitting in chairs at midfield.

Taylor, the 6-foot, 203-pound safety prospect, has generated plenty of interest from NFL types during his career, and in particular, over the last five months since NFL Draft prep has really ramped up.

The Draft begins with the first round on Thursday night, followed by the second and third rounds on Friday and the final four rounds on Saturday.

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Taylor has no idea where he’ll fall, or which team will call his name. But both he and Cowboy teammate Tyler Lacy expect to hear their names called sometime in the next three days.

Taylor also understands that all the conversations he’s had with NFL representatives — which included his two postseason all-star games appearances, the scouting combine, Pro Day and some on-side visits earlier this month — aren’t a guarantee of anything. Watching former Cowboy Malcolm Rodriguez go through the draft process last year taught Taylor that you never know who might like you enough to pick you.

“Malcolm told me he almost never talked to the Lions,” Taylor said. “He talked to them one time throughout the whole process. He talked to so many other teams several times, and then, boom, he gets the call, he’s going to Detroit.

“So I just try to stay true to me and it’ll play out how it plays out.”

Taylor did all he could on the field. He was a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award given to college football’s best defensive back, a first-team All-Big 12 selection who led the league in interceptions with six and OSU’s top tackler with 99.

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Taylor’s knack for making big plays, along with his aggressive playing style, helped him catch the eye of scouts. Projections have him rated as high as a third-round prospect, though more likely in the fourth-to-sixth range.

Now, the kid from Carl Albert High School can only sit and wait to see what happens next.

“Waiting on that day, waiting on that call, just chillin’,” Taylor said with a smile. “I look back at all the things I had to do to get here, just starting playing football at 7 years old, and this is where I am now. I know this isn’t the end, but sometimes I look up and I feel blessed.

“There are some things that I feel like got me here and some things I do that allowed me to get in this position,” he said. “I just wanna keep those things in mind, like leadership, hard work, dedication — don’t lose your hunger. Those things that I already knew about me, I wanna make sure I keep them.”

And when the draft call finally comes?

“I can’t even explain how it’s gonna feel,” Taylor said. “I just can’t wait.”

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NFL Draft

FIRST ROUND: 7 p.m. Thursday at Union Station in Kansas City, Mo. (ABC/ESPN)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State's Jason Taylor II 'just can't wait' for NFL Draft