2022 Football Roster
Roster
Gabriel Taylor
- Height:
- 5-10
- Weight:
- 190
- Class:
- Sophomore
- Hometown:
- Miami, Florida
Honors at Rice
- 2021
- C-USA Defensive Player of the Week (October 25,)
- Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Player of the Week (October 25)
- Frisco Bowl Defensive Player of the Week. (October 25)
- All-Conference USA (2021 Coaches, honorable mention; ProFootball Network, first team)
- 2021 C-USA Defensive Rookie of the Year (ProFootball Network)
- 2023
- 2023 Coaches, honorable mention; Phil Steele, third team)
- 2024
- George Martin Award (MVP) 2024
- All-American (CFN honorable mention)
- All-AAC (Coaches second team; CFN first team)
- AAC Safety of the Year 2024 (CFN)
- American Conference All-Academic Team
2024
Selected by teammates as the winner of the George Martin Award as the Owls' MVP... Second team All-AAC selection by conference coaches and also Phil Steele… Led the Owls with 57 tackles and three interceptions and tied for the team lead with 10 passes defended while also registering a career-best three sacks and seven tackles for loss… Three interceptions raised his career total to 10, which matches Jason Hebert for the seventh-best total in school history… Credited with a career-best two sacks at UAB (for a loss of 24 yards) and added an additional pressure on three pass rushes against the Blazers… Credited with three sacks as a senior after coming into the season with one in his career… Third on the team with seven TFL this year, after posting three in his career prior to 2024… Tied for the team lead with two forced fumbles.
2023
Earned honorable mention All-AAC honors from conference coaches… Saw action in 12 of 13 games (all starts) and topped 55 tackles for the third consecutive year, finishing third on the team with 59… Top tackle game was eight at South Florida… Second on the team with 10 passes defended, with two interceptions, and eight breakups… Owls’ active leader with seven interceptions… Picked off passes in back-to-back games (at Tulsa and vs. Tulane)… Returned his interception vs. Tulane for 72 yards to increase his career yardage to 178 (8th best in school history)… Recorded his first career sack for a loss of six against East Carolina.... East-West Shrine Bowl Preseason List...Phil Steele Preseason 4th team All-AAC... Athlon Sports Preseason 4th team All-AAC... PFF Preseason 2nd team All-AAC... College Football Network Preseason 1st team All-AAC.
ESPN OTL Feature
2022
Jess Neeley defense award for defensive backs as selected by his teammates … Started all 13 games at safety and finished with a career-high 60 tackles and two forced fumbles while matching his career-high with eight PBUs… Led the defense with a career-high 716 snaps and added 91 on special teams… Dashed 91 yards vs. McNeese with his first career pick-six, the third-longest interception for a touchdown in school history, and the longest since Preston Anderson set the school record with a 99-yard return at Georgia Tech in 1972.
2021
Lead the team with 44 unassisted tackles, second with three interceptions and eight passes defended, and fifth with 56 tackles... C-USA Defensive Player of the Week for his performance at UAB... Credited with a career-high 10 tackles, forced a fumble, and broke up a last gasp pass attempt by UAB to key the Owls win over the Blazers... Forced a fumble on the Blazers’ first play of the game after Rice had taken a 7-0 lead, setting the Owls up for their second TD of the opening minutes... Two of his 10 tackles forced Blazers punts at the end of the second and start of the third quarter with Rice holding a 20-14 lead... Picked off his first career pass at Texas and added seven tackles against the Longhorns.
2020
Made his debut in the opener vs. Middle Tennessee and his first career start at Southern Miss. Credited with his first four tackles vs. Southern Miss and added a fourth at North Texas.
Gulliver Prep
Highest rated recruit signed by Rice in the 247 era… One of six finalists for the Nat More Trophy which recognizes the top high school football player in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe Counties... Named the Miami-Dade Class 4A-1A Male Athlete of the Year: by the Miami Herald... Returned to football for the first time since he was in 8th grade after concentrating on basketball and putting together a standout season for coach Earl Sims at Gulliver Prep… Picked off 10 passes and returned five for touchdowns to help spark the Raiders to the top seed in the 4A playoffs… Also took snaps as the quarterback in the wildcat formation and rushed for 153 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries… A standout basketball player who has played on the varsity since his freshman year of high school and was nominated for the 2020 McDonalds All-American game…. Recorded a quadruple-double as a senior vs. Oxbridge Academic (21 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds, 10 steals).
Personal
Full Name: Gabriel Taylor...Birthday: September 27... Parents: Pete and Simone Taylor... Three brothers and two sisters... The younger brother of former Miami Hurricane and Washington Redskin standout Sean Taylor who played his home games on a field named after his late brother... Rice major: Sport Management...Rice college: Will Rice.
Will Rice College
