For some rising high school seniors, football is an outlet to get away from the stress of being a teen. For Jenkins County defensive tackle Jonathan Taylor, one of the top players in the state of Georgia and top tackles in the country according to the recruiting services, football is a bit more. “I see football as a job,” said Taylor in a recent interview.
In fact Taylor wanted to get down to business on the gridiron so he ended his recruiting process very early in the game, selecting to sign with Georgia this upcoming February along with his teammate James Deloach in one of the most intriguing “package deals,” in recent memory. The two declared very early on that they’d be attending the same college together and in the end Mark Richt and the Georgia Bulldogs won out. “I wanted to focus on football and my senior year and getting down to it,” Taylor said of his reasoning to pledge early.
How did the pair decide upon Georgia? According to Taylor, the conversation was very simple as the two found nothing but positives about Athens. “I said to him, ‘Georgia sound good to me, how about you?’ and he said, ‘Sounds good to me,’ and that was it.”
Taylor said that he saw Athens as a good chance to get an education. “Education is number one for me,” admitted Taylor. “They have a great, great coaching staff too. Mark Richt is a good Christian.” Taylor is so smitten with the Bulldogs and Richt’s program he said he will not take any other official visits, just one to Athens in January.
Taylor also revealed that he’s been working hard as a recruiter for the Bulldogs, sticking right on Jacksonville prospect John Theus at the recent Dawg Night gathering, working him hard. “I was a busy man,” Taylor said about his tireless recruiting efforts at Dawg Night.
Playing time was also a big factor though as Taylor believes he will have every opportunity to start his freshman year as a true nose tackle. “After John Jenkins (comes in this year) it is going to be me.” To step in, Taylor said he will just try to “keep my size and lift weights.” For a man who sees football as a job, Taylor is taking the steps to ensure his promotion to a starting job is scheduled for Fall 2012
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