#20

Taylor Starling

Senior cornerback on North Texas's 2026 roster.

CB · North Texas · Sr. · #20

5′9″ · 181 lb · Dallas, TX · South Oak Cliff HS

CFB Index 24 · #277 of 327 cornersLow confidenceReturning to North Texas for 2026

via meangreensports.com ↗

Next upSat Sep 19 · 12 pm ETat Texas StateBobcat Stadium (TX)Texas State by 3

Recruiting

3★

CB recruit

No. 853 nationally · Signed with North Texas

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 cornerback on North Texas's roster.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to North Texas in 2023.

His career, year by year

Taylor Starling

CB · North Texas · Sr · #20

Doesn't get beat deep and rarely gives up the big play. This is his second year in the same secondary at North Texas. The receipt: 6 tackles, 0.5 TFL against South Alabama — Week 1, 2024.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
seasons on the roster
game log

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2 seasons under Eric Morris — 11-14 over that span.

2023North Texas5-7HC: Eric Morris · Balanced, fast tempo

2024North Texas6-7HC: Eric Morris · Pass-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

24Below cohort / limited sample #277 of 327?

Low confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (86th percentile). Concern: qb hurries (23rd percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Passes defended#327 / 2892 · 86th pct

Solo tackles#1627 / 2892 · 42nd pct

Tackles for loss#1667 / 2892 · 38th pct

1.5

Tackles#1983 / 2892 · 30th pct

Sacks#1455 / 2892 · 25th pct

0.0

QB hurries#1536 / 2892 · 23rd pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	1.4	0.2	0.0	0.6
Road6g	2.2	0.1	0.0	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	2.0	0.1	0.0	0.5
Weeks 8+5g	1.6	0.2	0.0	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Neal Brown

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

24 · #277 of 327 corners

Three-star recruit. Now #277 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	North Texas	20	13	1.5	4	--	--
2023	North Texas	1	1	1.0	--	--	--
Career		21	14	2.5	4	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2024

W 35–20

vs Stephen F. Austin

1 PD

With C. Morris — 322 yds · 4 TD · 3 INT · QBR 22.3 · -7 rush yds (5 car) · S. Evans — 37 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 50 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 52-38@ South Alabama	6	3	0.5	—	0	Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 2	W 35-20vs Stephen F. Austin	0	0	0.0	—	1
Wk 3	L 21-66@ Texas Tech	1	1	0.0	—	1
Wk 4	W 44-17vs Wyoming	3	2	0.0	—	1
Wk 7	W 41-37@ Florida Atlantic	1	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	L 37-45vs Tulane	2	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	L 3-14vs Army	1	1	1.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 27-48@ UTSA	1	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 28-40vs East Carolina	1	0	0.0	—	1
Wk 14	W 24-17@ Temple	3	2	0.0	—	0
Bowl	L 28-30@ Texas State	1	1	0.0	—	0
Total		20	13	1.5	—	4

How he plays

Play style

Steady in coverage; doesn't get beat deep and rarely gives up the big play.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

11 games

20Tackles

13Solo

1.5TFL

0Sacks

4Pass def.

0INT

20 tackles. 4 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 1.5 TFL.

Week 21 PD
Week 31 PD
Week 41 PD
Week 131 PD

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.

2026 Outlook

North Texas

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Cornerback · North Texas

Returning around him

Transfer portal: +11 net (49 in / 38 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

North Texas · Last season: 12-2 (AP #23) · Talent rank #95 · 2026 recruiting class #135

DNA match

Player DNA

Cover Corner

Steady in coverage; doesn't get beat deep and rarely gives up the big play.

His 2024 production profile sits closest to Kimari Robinson’s 2024 season.

Kimari Robinson

77%match

Duke · 2024

Kenyon Reed

San José State · 2021

67%

LJ Green

Troy · 2024

66%

Sean Fresch

Rice · 2022

65%

Eric Garror

Louisiana · 2022

All-Sun Belt

64%

Matches Kimari on

Class year

Weight

Tackle volume

Differs from Kimari on

Height (lower)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Will Mitchell II's sophomore season at Texas State (2025).

Will Mitchell II

84%match

Texas State · 2025

Jahmad Harmon

Ball State · 2025

82%

Kimari Robinson

Duke · 2024

76%

Brandon Crutchfield

Old Dominion · 2025

73%

Tayvion Beasley

BYU · 2025

72%

Matches Will on

Class year

PD rate

Weight

Player DNA

Players who play like Taylor Starling

Kimari Robinson

Duke · 2024

77%

LJ Green

Troy · 2024

66%

Background

2025: Did not appear in game action ... missed the entire season due to injury. 2024: Appeared in all 13 games with four starts … finished the year with four pass breakups … recorded 20 tackles … put up 1.5 TFL … posted a season-high six tackles with 0.5 TFL in the season opener against South Ala...

via meangreensports.com ↗

The secondary · North Texas

#16BJ Allen Jr.S · Sr.15 tackles · 2025
#8Caden JenkinsCB · Sr.10 tackles · 2025
#9Cameren JenkinsS · Sr.6 tackles · 2025
#5Chase CanadaCB · Sr.3 tackles · 2025
#20Taylor StarlingCB · Sr.no box-score line yet

18 more on the roster · North Texas team page

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology