Former Florida cornerback Jalen Teez Tabor was drafted No. 53 overall by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the NFL Draft on Friday night.
A popular villain the SEC over the past couple of seasons, Tabor was one of the mouthpieces of the Florida Gators. The 6-0, 200-pound cornerback sure had the accolades during his Gators career. He was a Freshman All-American in 2014, first-team All-SEC in 2015 and third-team All-American in 2016.
He amassed an impressive 26 passes defensed over the past two seasons and recorded nine total INTs during his career.
Tabor has prototypical size as a lockdown NFL cornerback, but some questions have arisen since his lackluster NFL Combine performance, which saw him run a 4.62 40-yard dash. Is he fast enough? Can he recover quick enough?
Tabor is an aggressive cornerback who’s comfortable playing on an island, but he hasn’t shown that he loves contact. Some have even whispered that he fears true downfield speed against fast receivers.
The Washington, D.C., native entered Florida as a 5-star prospect and rated as the country’s No. 4 cornerback and the country’s No. 14 overall player. Tabor faced some off-field issues during his career at Florida, including a suspension to start the 2016 season after an altercation with a teammate.
Tabor is high-strung and talented, but he might be high maintenance, too. Watching his NFL career pan out will be very interesting to say the least.
A graduate of the University of Florida and founder of Saturday Down South, Kevin is a college football enthusiast.
