If you ask pretty much anyone associated with UVa’s defense who they think might emerge on that side of the ball this season, many will have the same answer: Noah Taylor. In fact, by the time the Wahoos open the season next Saturday night in Pittsburgh, the 6-foot-5 Taylor have well have secured himself a starting spot at outside linebacker.

Having enrolled early last January, the Silver Spring (MD) native and former three-star recruit at the Avalon School initially began running with the defensive backs. And though his time there was brief, it showed his athletic ability and a skillset that oozed with potential.

“I think the guy I’m really impressed by is Noah Taylor,” junior outside backer Charles Snowden said last month. “He’s 6-foot-5 but he moves like a much smaller guy, like he’s 5-foot-6. He’s athletic as can be, strong in the weight room.

“Once he gets that size to him, he’s got natural playmaking ability,” Snowden added. “Unlike me, he’s been a football guy his whole life so his football instincts are off the chart. He loves the game of football and he can really get after it. I’m expecting big things from him this season.”

The time Taylor spent at safety aided his development a great deal. The time he put in this offseason, as he moved up two levels in UVa’s S&C program, did as well.

“Playing DB helped me a lot,” Taylor said this week, “because when we install things now and go over things now, I know as a linebacker what’s going on behind me. So that’s helping me a lot knowing what I have to do as a pass rusher and what I have to do in my coverage because I already know what’s happening behind me. So that definitely helps a lot.”

The added weight and strength—Taylor is currently listed at 215 pounds but is likely slightly above that now—have allowed him to do a lot with the experience he’s gained.

He appeared in nine of the team’s 13 games in 2018, seeing most of his time on special teams. But he got some reps from scrimmage, including in the Belk Bowl. And in spring it was clear that he was going to do all he could to push his way into a starting lineup that would need to replace Chris Peace.

“It’s really more the experience rather than the weight so much,” he explained. “I just feel like I know what’s coming before it comes, so I can jump into blocks instead of waiting for blocks to come to me and things like that.”

The group UVa has assembled at linebacker has gotten even more deep in the last 12 months. Currently, the most likely competition to Taylor for that other OLB spot is Matt Gahm, a player Taylor says packs a heavy punch.

“He loves hitting things a lot,” Taylor said when asked about Gahm. “I mean, I do too but he has about 20 extra pounds on me.”

Despite the fact that a deep corps is battling hard for playing time this preseason, Taylor says there’s something special between the players that allows them to still be close knit.

“Bunch of great guys,” he said of the linebacker room. “We’re always competing with each other and competing obviously against the offense. We’re always joking around but we’re serious.”

When asked who the class clown was of the bunch, Taylor couldn’t hide his smile.

“I’m going to have to give it to myself honestly,” he said with a laugh. “At first I was obviously a little nervous, being a new guy. Growing relationships, I just started to just be myself around those guys.”

As the opener against Pitt draws closer, there’s a lot of expectations on the outside that with so much returning experience UVa should have one of the league’s best defenses. Inside, the players have similar expectations of themselves.

“We can be one of the best defenses in the country, no doubt,” Taylor said. “It’s just a matter of executing right now. I definitely see that this year.”

As far as what fans can look forward to from the Cavalier D this fall?

“You know the motto,” Taylor said. “TNT: Tackles ’n turnovers.”

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