Alontae Taylor

The Saints selected Alontae Taylor with the 49th overall pick in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft. The 6-foot, 193-pound defender possesses a combination of speed, instincts and versatility needed to excel on both defense and special teams. The Manchester, Tenn. native only began playing cornerback as a freshman at Tennessee after playing quarterback in high school and starting his college career at wide receiver. He took to the secondary and special teams quickly, finishing his college career with totals of 162 tackles (115 solo), a split sack, five stops for loss, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery for a touchdown, four interceptions, one returned 56 yards for a touchdown and one blocked punt.

COLLEGE CAREER – *The Saints selected Alontae Taylor with the 49th overall pick in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft. The 6-foot, 193-pound defender possesses a combination of speed, instincts and versatility needed to excel on both defense and special teams. The Manchester, Tenn. native only began playing cornerback as a freshman at Tennessee after playing quarterback in high school and starting his college career at wide receiver. He took to the secondary and special teams quickly, finishing his college career with totals of 162 tackles (115 solo), a split sack, five stops for loss, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery for a touchdown, four interceptions, one returned 56 yards for a touchdown and one blocked punt.

2021 – Proved to be one of the best cornerbacks in the SEC, when he started all 12 games of the regular season and had a career-best 60 tackles, six pass breakups, two interceptions, an additional pick on a two-point conversion attempt and one forced fumble to be selected fourth-team All-SEC (Phil Steele)...Made six tackles and a pass breakup on his Senior Day vs. Vanderbilt (11/27)...Posted a career-high 10 tackles vs. No. 1 Georgia (11/13)...Recorded his first-career pick-six at No. 18 Kentucky (11/6), returning his second interception of the season 56 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, while adding four tackles against the Wildcats...Logged six tackles and made his first tackle for loss of the season at No. 4 Alabama (10/23) ... Posted eight tackles and logged one PBU vs. No. 13 Ole Miss (10/16)...Had a career-high three passes defensed, intercepted a pass in the end zone on a two-point conversion and logged two tackles in win vs. South Carolina (10/9)...Tallied six tackles at No. 11 Florida (9/25) and forced a fumble late in the first half to end a promising Gators drive...Nabbed his first interception of the season vs. Tennessee Tech (9/18) and returned it 29 yards down the sideline, and also added two solo tackles and a pass defense...Logged three tackles in his second consecutive start at corner vs. Pitt (9/11)...Started the opener vs. Bowling Green (9/2) at cornerback, finishing second on the team with six tackles. 2020 – Appeared in eight games and made five starts at cornerback despite battling a hamstring injury much of the season...Did not play against Kentucky (10/17) or Arkansas (11/7)…Tallied 29 tackles and had two tackles for loss, five passes defended while making an interception…Had five tackles, a stop for loss and returned an interception for 45 yards in finale vs. No. 5 Texas A&M (12/19)...Made a pair of tackles and one pass breakup in win at Vanderbilt (12/12)...Totaled four tackles and a pass defense vs. #6 Florida (12/5)...Made five tackles and had a pass breakup vs. No. 2 Alabama (10/24)...Started at corner in season-opening win at South Carolina (9/26), notching six tackles, one stop for loss and one pass defense…Earned Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll accolades for the second straight year, as well as being voted by his peers to the first of two terms as the vice chair of the SEC Football Leadership Council, where he would end up being instrumental as a student voice in helping the SEC return to play during the Covid-19 pandemic. 2019 – Appeared in all 13 games with six starts at cornerback and finished the season with 33 tackles, one interception, one split sack and three passes defensed…Opened up the first two contests of the season and the final four contests, proving to be an instrumental part in Tennessee's season-ending six-game winning streak...Had two total tackles in a 23-22 victory over Indiana in TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (1/2/20)...Had four tackles at Missouri, including a stop for loss and first career (split) sack (11/23)...Made four stops vs. South Carolina (10/26)...Notched five tackles against Mississippi State, including a half tackle-for-loss (10/12)...Posted three tackles vs. No. 3 Georgia (10/5)...Recorded his first career interception and one pass defense against Florida (9/21)...Made two tackles and one pass defense against Brigham Young (9/7)...Posted three stops in UT's opener vs. Georgia State (8/31)…Presented the John Stucky Award at team's postseason banquet and was a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll. 2018 – Played in all 12 games with eight starts as he became Tennessee's first true freshman defensive back to start a season opener since 2013 against West Virginia and never looked back …Recorded 40 tackles (28 solo), one stop for loss, two forced fumbles, two breakups, one fumble recovery for a touchdown and one blocked kick…Finished with four tackles at Vanderbilt (11/24) …Tied for first on the team with seven tackles vs. Missouri (11/17)…Tallied three tackles at South Carolina in his fifth start of the season (10/27)…Made seven tackles and recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown to help the Vols defeat No. 21 Auburn (10/13)…Started and had four tackles at No. 2 Georgia (9/29)…Earned his second start vs. Florida (9/22) and forced his first fumble to go with four tackles…Started his first career game in collegiate debut vs. West Virginia (9/1) and recorded four tackles and partially blocked a punt…Early enrollee who began his career at wide receiver in the spring of 2018.

PERSONAL - Rated a four-star prospect and a consensus top 10 recruit in Tennessee out of Coffee County (Manchester, Tenn.) HS…Member of the ESPN 300…Invited to play in the 2018 Under Armour All-American Game…Played in the 2017 Toyota East West TN Football All-Star Classic – named MVP of the East Team after throwing the game-winning touchdown on a double-pass…Made the 2017 TSWA Class 6A All-State team and earned Region 3-6A Athlete of the Year honors that season as well…Tallied 8,225 yards of total offense and 75 TDs during four-year career as a quarterback…Full name is Alontae Devaun Taylor…Born on Dec. 3, 1998…Earned his undergraduate degree in communication studies in December 2021...Says his late grandmother, Ginger Irene Burnett Reese, is his biggest motivator…Grew up playing baseball, basketball and football but focused solely on football after his freshman year of high school…Has a dream to visit Africa…Originally from Winchester, Tennessee, but moved to Manchester in fourth grade (about 30 minutes apart)…Twitter handle is @taeetaylor and Instagram handle is @alontaeetaylor.