Tory Taylor

Last updated

Tory Taylor
Tory Taylor Bears pre-game 49ers 2024.jpg
Taylor with the Chicago Bears in 2024
No. 19 – Chicago Bears
Position: Punter
Personal information
Born: (1997-07-10) 10 July 1997 (age 27)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:223 lb (101 kg)
Career information
High school: Haileybury (Melbourne)
College: Iowa (2020–2023)
NFL draft: 2024  / round: 4 / pick: 122
CFL draft: 2024G  / round: 2 / pick: 15
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
NCAA FBS records
  • Most punting yards in a season: 4,479 (2023)
  • Highest career average punting yards: 46.3 [a]
Career NFL statistics as of Week 18, 2024
Punts:82
Punting yards:3,911
Punting average:47.7
Longest punt:68
Inside 20:34
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Tory Taylor (born 10 July 1997) is an Australian professional American football punter for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college American football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, winning the 2023 Ray Guy Award and being named a unanimous All-American prior to being selected by the Bears in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL draft.

Contents

Early life

Taylor was born in Melbourne, Australia and attended high school at Haileybury. [1] [2] Although he played Australian rules football growing up and was unfamiliar with its American counterpart, he became interested in the sport and attended clinics at Prokick Australia to try it out. [3] Prokick's founders Nathan Chapman and John Smith recommended Taylor to the University of Iowa's special teams coordinator LeVar Woods, who recruited him to play college football. [4]

College career

Taylor punting in the 2023 Big Ten Football Championship Game Tory Taylor (53374068004) (cropped).jpg
Taylor punting in the 2023 Big Ten Football Championship Game

In Taylor's first college season in 2020, he punted 40 times for 1,765 yards, with 18 punts being down within their opponents' 20 yard line. [5] For his performance on the year, Taylor was named the Big Ten Conference's Punter of the Year, along with being named first team All-Big Ten. [6] [7] In the 2021 season, Taylor punted 80 times for 3,688 yards, along with 38 punts being downed within their opponents' 20 yard line. [8]

In week one of the 2022 season, Taylor punted ten times for 479 yards with seven punts downed inside the 20, as he helped the Hawkeyes beat South Dakota State; he was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week. [9] In the following week, Taylor would punt six times for 304 yards with two punts being downed within the 20 yard line, but Iowa would lose to rival Iowa State. [10] Taylor finished the 2022 season with 82 punts for 3,725 yards, along with 38 punts inside the 20 yard line. [11] For his performance on the season, Taylor was named first team All-Big Ten by the media, and third team All-Big Ten by the coaches. [12] Taylor was also named first team All-American. [13] [14]

Instead of declaring for the 2023 NFL draft, Taylor decided to return for the season. [15] In week six of the 2023 season, Taylor punted six times for 284 yards, with two of his punts landing within their opponents' 20 yard line, as he helped the Hawkeyes win their homecoming game beating Purdue 20–14. For his performance, Taylor would be named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week. [16] In the following week, Taylor would punt ten times for 506 yards, while six of his punts would be downed within the 20 yard line, as he helped Iowa beat Wisconsin. [17] For his performance, Taylor would be named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week, in back to back weeks. [18] [19] In the 2024 Citrus Bowl, Taylor broke the NCAA record for most punting yards in a season, with 4,479 yards. The feat bested the previous of record of 4,138, set 85 years prior by John Fingel. [20]

Despite his position, Taylor was widely credited with helping Iowa remain competitive amid anemic performances by the offense. His punts regularly pinned the receiving team deep on their own side of the field, which allowed Iowa's top-ranking defense to prevent their opponent from scoring and keep games close. In 2023, the offense averaged 16.6 points per game (fourth worst in the country) but went 10–3 with the majority of the wins coming in what USA Today writer Craig Meyer described as "low-scoring games in which the fight for field position was paramount." [21] His total punting yardage that year also exceeded the 3,296 recorded by Iowa's offense as well as 33 other schools. [4] [22]

For his contributions in 2023, he received the Ray Guy Award for the best punter in the country, was named a unanimous first-team All-American, and became the only multi-time winner of the Big Ten Punter of the Year. [23] [24] [4] A coach also gave Taylor a first-place vote for that season's Chicago Tribune Silver Football, given to the best player in the Big Ten as voted upon by coaches. [25]

Taylor ended his career with the FBS record for most average yards per punt at 46.3. He also led the subdivision in punts within the 20-yard line in his final three years. [26]

Statistics

SeasonPunting
GPPuntsAvgLngYdsTBTB%In20In20%Net
2020 84044.1611,76512.501829.5142.8
2021 148046.1693,6881316.253948.7542.1
2022 138245.4703,7251113.413846.3441.6
2023 149348.2674,47977.523234.4143.8
Career [27] 4929546.37013,6573210.7612743.4042.6

Professional career

Taylor in 2024 Tory Taylor Bears pre-game 2 49ers 2024.jpg
Taylor in 2024
Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand span
6 ft 3+7⁄8 in
(1.93 m)		223 lb
(101 kg)		32+1⁄8 in
(0.82 m)		9 in
(0.23 m)
All values from NFL Combine [28] [29]

Taylor was selected by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round (122nd overall) of the 2024 NFL draft, making him the highest punter selected since 2019 and the highest by the team since Todd Sauerbrun was picked in the second round in 1995. [30] [26] He was also selected by the BC Lions 15th overall in the 2024 CFL global draft. [31] He signed his four-year rookie contract with the Bears on 11 May 2024. [32]

In Week 4 of the 2024 season against the Los Angeles Rams, Taylor pinned three of his five punts inside the 10-yard line. [33] His role pinned the Rams and helped the Bears' "takeaway-crazed" defense seal the 24–18 win: Taylor's final punt with 1:13 remaining placed the Los Angeles offense at their own 8, meaning they would have needed to drive 92 yards to score the tying touchdown, but it ended with an interception. [34] [35] Taylor earned NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. [33]

Personal life

He is a supporter of the Australian Football League's Richmond Football Club and A-League soccer club Melbourne City FC. [4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Minimum 250 punts

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References

  1. ↑ Peterson, Chloe (14 September 2022). "'The people that I play for': Punter Tory Taylor's family visits U.S. to watch Iowa football". The Daily Iowan. Archived from the original on 24 September 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  2. ↑ Hlas, Mike (19 October 2023). "It may seem hard to believe, but Tory Taylor has become best Hawkeye punter ever". The Gazette. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  3. ↑ Bohnenkamp, John (19 December 2023). "Iowa Punter Tory Taylor Reflects on Record-Setting Career". University of Iowa Center for Advancement. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Jackson, Andrew (29 April 2024). "How Tory Taylor went from unknown Aussie punter to 'revered' college football cult hero as NFL dream realised". Fox Sports (Australia) . Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  5. ↑ "Tory Taylor 2020 Game Logs". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  6. ↑ Hanson, Austin (17 December 2020). "Freshman Tory Taylor named Big Ten Punter of the Year". The Daily Iowan. Archived from the original on 1 November 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  7. ↑ "Tory Taylor Nabs B1G Honor". Sports Illustrated. 13 September 2021. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  8. ↑ "Tory Taylor 2021 Game Logs". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  9. ↑ "Tory Taylor B1G Special Team Player of Week". Sports Illustrated. 5 September 2022. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  10. ↑ Bohnenkamp, John (8 September 2023). "Tory Taylor Looking Forward to Iowa State". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  11. ↑ "Tory Taylor 2022 Game Logs". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  12. ↑ Helmer, Josh (29 November 2022). "Iowa Hawkeyes' Tory Taylor, Drew Stevens honored as members of All-Big Ten teams". Hawkeyes Wire. USA Today. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  13. ↑ "Jack Campbell, Tory Taylor FWAA 1st-Team All-Americans". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  14. ↑ Bohnenkamp, John (19 July 2023). "Tory Taylor Fine-Tuning His Game". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  15. ↑ Peterson, Chloe (31 December 2022). "Iowa football punter Tory Taylor announces return for fourth season". The Daily Iowan. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  16. ↑ "Tory Taylor B1G ST Player of Week". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  17. ↑ "Punter Tory Taylor was MVP of game for Iowa in win over Wisconsin". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 28 December 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  18. ↑ "Tory Taylor named Big Ten Co-Special Teams Player of the Week". CBS2. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  19. ↑ Jaster, Ryan M. (16 October 2023). "Hawkeyes' Tory Taylor earns back-to-back Big Ten special teams honors". WHO13.com. Archived from the original on 22 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  20. ↑ Hornstein, Blake (2 January 2024). "Hawkeyes' Tory Taylor breaks NCAA single-season punting record". who13.com. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  21. ↑ Meyer, Craig (1 January 2024). "Tory Taylor punting record: Iowa star punter breaks NCAA single-season yards record". USA Today . Hawk Central. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  22. ↑ Truax, Barkley (6 February 2024). "Tory Taylor details impact LeVar Woods has had on his career". On3. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  23. ↑ Feder, Curtis (8 December 2023). "Tory Taylor wins the 2023 Ray Guy Award". KGAN . Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  24. ↑ Steppe, John (14 December 2023). "Iowa's Cooper DeJean, Tory Taylor earn unanimous All-America status". The Gazette . Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  25. ↑ Casselberry, Ian (14 December 2023). "One Coach Voted for Iowa Punter Tory Taylor As Big Ten's Best Player". Sports Illustrated . Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  26. 1 2 Infante, Jacob (27 April 2024). "Film study: New Bears P Tory Taylor a certified difference-maker". Windy City Gridiron. SB Nation . Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  27. ↑ "Tory Taylor – Iowa Hawkeyes". ESPN. Archived from the original on 3 December 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  28. ↑ "Tory Taylor Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  29. ↑ "2024 NFL Draft Scout Tory Taylor College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  30. ↑ Adame, Anthony (27 April 2024). "Highest Drafted Punters in NFL History After Bears Spend 4th-Rounder On Tory Taylor". GiveMeSport. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  31. ↑ Baker, Matt (30 April 2024). "Lions Grab K/P Carl Meyer & P Tory Taylor In Global Draft" (Press release). BC Lions.
  32. ↑ Taylor, Ryan (11 May 2024). "Bears sign rookie punter Tory Taylor to a four-year contract". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  33. 1 2 Gordon, Grant (2 October 2024). "Ravens RB Derrick Henry, Lions QB Jared Goff highlight Players of the Week". NFL.com.
  34. ↑ Jahns, Adam (1 October 2024). "Rookie punter Tory Taylor showing why the Bears wanted him and his bag of tricks" . The New York Times . The Athletic . Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  35. ↑ "Bears 24-18 Rams (Sep 29, 2024) Play-by-Play". ESPN.com . ESPN . Retrieved 6 January 2025.
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