Alex Taylor took time last year to sit back and learn from the veteran wide receivers in the room as he went about his freshman year. JJ Jones and Nate McCollum, two of the oldest players in last year’s group, became the vets that Taylor leaned on and received advice from. Throughout his true freshman year, Taylor said he learned to stay patient and maximize his chances.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Alex Taylor took time last year to sit back and learn from the veteran wide receivers in the room as he went about his freshman year.
JJ Jones and Nate McCollum, two of the oldest players in last year’s group, became the vets that Taylor leaned on and received advice from. Throughout his true freshman year, Taylor said he learned to stay patient and maximize his chances.
“Don’t waste your time, make the most of your opportunities,” Taylor said on Wednesday. “I didn’t really get a lot to show what I could do last year, so it’s kind of a little motivation factor for me, just to show what I can do. I just learned to be patient in the process. Take your time. Learn what you can learn from the older guys.”
Last season, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound receiver out of Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley played four games for the Tar Heels. He caught one pass for 15 yards against James Madison. Taylor came out of Grimsley touted as the No. 14 player in the state of North Carolina in the 2024 recruiting class.
Taylor believes the increase in physicality during practice is helping him grow as a player. He expressed his willingness to be versatile on Wednesday, saying he can play either on the inside or outside offensively.
“He’s a smart guy, very dependable, can play multiple positions, has been productive in multiple areas down the field, as a route runner and making adjustments in the passing game based on roll coverage, off coverage, press coverage, things like that,” Bill Belichick said of Taylor on Wednesday. “So he’s one of the players that the quarterbacks have a lot of confidence and trust in, (trust) that he’s earned through making good decisions and being dependable over multiple days and weeks. So we have them, but really like the versatility he brings. You can line him up in a couple different spots for us and that helps you formationally.”
UNC’s wide receiver room appears to be one rife with opportunity. Five of North Carolina’s six leaders in receiving yards from last season departed at the end of the year, and the leader from last season — Kobe Paysour – totaled 365 yards on 21 catches. North Carolina added four receivers through the transfer portal, though none of them have logged heavy snap counts as starters.
Taylor joined the team in the same class as Jordan Shipp and Javarius Green. All three opted to stay when Belichick was hired.
“A lot of us guys, we’re really close off the field, so (we were) just talking to each other, seeing what we were thinking,” Taylor said. “And then we had a good coach, Coach Belichick, hard to pass up on that. Then (wide receivers) coach (Garrick) McGee came in and we talked to him, and we had some talks, and we liked everything that he talked about. So that’s really why we just decided to stay together and keep building.”
After taking the time to learn and observe, Taylor enters his redshirt-freshman season looking to make a contribution to this new-look UNC roster.
Taylor said one of his strengths is coming away with 50-50 balls. He said he made it a point to get stronger this offseason and that strength coach Moses Cabrera helped with that goal with his strength program. Taylor added route running to the list of desired improvements as well.
Taylor’s also changed up his diet since the end of last season.
“I was eating a lot of fried food, I’m not gonna lie,” Taylor said. “I love fried food. It’s really good. But I knew to get to my best self, I had to cut a lot of that out. So I just started eating more greens, more fruits and better meats for my body.”
Category: General Sports
