It's already been a rough week for the Las Vegas Raiders with Davante Adams requesting a trade but the team did get some good news. Rookie safety Trey Taylor was placed on Injured Reserve to start the season and it seemed like he may take a redshirt year.
However, that might not be the case anymore. The Raiders announced that Taylor has returned to practice, which opens up his 21-day window to return.
S Trey Taylor has returned to practice. pic.twitter.com/KccOVZfoVU
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) October 2, 2024
Now, this doesn't mean Taylor will play this season. If the Raiders decide he's not ready after 21 days, they could place him back on the IR for the rest of the year. They could also cut him and then re-sign him on the practice squad.
That said, Taylor may be able to carve out a role this season. Starting safety Marcus Epps is out for the season with a torn ACL. Isaiah Pola-Mao has played incredibly well in relief of Epps so the Raiders will be rolling with him as the starter for the time being but they need depth.
Taylor is an interesting prospect. He's the cousin of Hall of Famer Ed Reed and won the Jim Thorpe Award last year, which is given to the top defensive back in the country. Despite that, he fell all the way to the seventh round.
He's a bit older for a rookie at 23 so there might not be much upside there but he's got decent size and athleticism. The Raiders would be wise to see what they have in him. In a perfect world, Pola-Mao and Tre'von Moehrig play well and are the two starting safeties of the future but depth is always important.
Taylor developing into a solid safety at the NFL level would be great for the Raiders. He's on track to return soon but it still remains to be seen when he'll actually see the field.