2008 Recruiting: WR Jhyryn Taylor

via www.lsusports.net
Jhyryn Taylor
Franklinton High School
Franklinton, Louisiana
6'1" 172#

Jhyryn Taylor (I'm taking suggestions on how this is to be pronounced.  I can get the "Taylor" part, but Jhyryn is an enigma of a name to me.) is the younger brother of LSU starting free safety Curtis Taylor.  He's also the older brother of fellow 2008 signee Brandon Taylor.  Jhyryn is the older of the two, having been born about 15 months before Brandon.

Jhyryn lists his 40-time as 4.59 seconds, and judging from his videos, he is not exaggerating it.  He looks awfully fast on the field.  Not blazing fast, mind you, but fast enough that the 40-time he reports may be a rare honest one.

I think as a 3-star, Jhyryn is an underrated player.  He looks strong on his feet, and he catches the ball very well at wide receiver.  When he has it in his hands, he runs away from defenders.  When defenders can catch him, he is hard to tackle.  He lists his size at 6'1" and 176 pounds, but he looks a lot bigger than that to me.  I would guess, just from looking at his film, that he was playing at about 190 pounds or more.

I can't really explain it in complex terms, but Jhyryn just looks like he can play some football to me.  He also looks pretty darn polished.  I don't know what's going on in that Taylor family, but they produce some pretty good athletes.  Curtis didn't do much playing behind Laron Landry his first few years, but he emerged as a good player for us last year, and few people look as good in a uniform as he does. Younger brother Brandon is one of the headliners of this class. It is my understanding that there is a 4th Taylor brother, a 2010 recruit, who may also be pursued by LSU.

Jhyryn is a guy who could develop into a monster at wide receiver, a wide-bodied, strong-handed battleship of a possession receiver.  His older brother Curtis is north of 200 pounds and retains good speed.  If Jhyryn can similarly add bulk and strength he could be a handful for smaller defensive backs.  I think he's underrated at 3-stars, and he is a solid player.

There were some anxious moments about him qualifying academically.  The first clue was that he was a year older than brother Brandon, yet was in the same class academically.  Brandon was a good student and there were no concerns about him qualifying.  Jhyryn got his act together in the classroom, however, and has reported to the team for the summer.