CJ Taylor: S · Vanderbilt · #1.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
CJ Taylor
Plays like an extra linebacker near the line. Four seasons in the Vanderbilt secondary to date. A game that shows it: 9 tackles against Tennessee — Week 14, 2024.
Play style
Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
64 tackles. 3 passes defended. 2 interceptions. 2.5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
On3 Oct 25
PennLive Oct 17Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Vanderbilt | 64 | 44 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 3 | 2 |
| 2023 | Vanderbilt | 55 | 29 | 7.5 | 3.0 | 3 | 2 |
| 2022 | Vanderbilt | 59 | 33 | 7.0 | 1.0 | 5 | 1 |
| 2021 | Vanderbilt | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- |
| Career | 181 | 107 | 17.0 | 4.0 | 12 | 5 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2024 season · 13 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 34-27vs Virginia Tech | 7 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 55-0vs Alcorn State | 3 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 32-36@ Georgia State | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 27-30@ No. 7 Missouri | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 40-35vs No. 1 Alabama | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 7 | W 20-13@ Kentucky | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 24-14vs Ball State | 6 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 24-27vs No. 5 Texas | 8 | 8 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 17-7@ Auburn | 7 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 7-28vs South Carolina | 7 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 13 | L 17-24@ LSU | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 14 | L 23-36vs No. 7 Tennessee | 9 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
 Bowl | W 35-27vs Georgia Tech | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 64 | 44 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 2 | 3 |
Week 2 · 2024
W 55-0
vs Alcorn State
1 interception · 1.5 tackles for loss · 3 tackles
Dominant 55-point win at home against Alcorn State.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
5%3 pass breakupsInterceptions
2interceptionsTackle volume
64tackles this seasonTFL rate
4%2 TFL64 tackles · 2.5 for loss · 3 pass breakups · 2 interceptions.
4 seasons under Clark Lea — 16-33 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2024 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 5.7 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Road5g | 3.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 3.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 6.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Clark Lea
Pass share
39.8%
304 pass / 459 run
Plays / game
58.7
13 games
Team sack rate
5.5%
326 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2024
64 tackles in 13 games, about as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive back who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
How it ended
Four seasons at Vanderbilt, 181 tackles — the college career is complete.
Coaching lineage · 2021–2024
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Josh Heupel and Clark Lea.
