{"id":171200,"date":"2026-02-19T11:26:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T11:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/171200\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T11:26:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T11:26:13","slug":"where-does-texas-michael-taaffe-rank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/171200\/","title":{"rendered":"Where does Texas’ Michael Taaffe rank?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By any metric, safety\u00a0Michael Taaffe<\/a> leaves Texas football<\/a> as a Longhorn legend.<\/p>\n

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Don\u2019t believe it? Here\u2019s a quick biography from his five seasons at Texas: an Austin native who grew up a Texas fan; a local hero who helped lead\u00a0Westlake High School<\/a> to back-to-back state championships; a walk-on at Texas who immediately became a special teams standout; a scholarship earner, then a starter, then multiple All-American selections.<\/p>\n

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Now, Taaffe will try and continue to beat the odds by becoming the 12th\u00a0player from Westlake to play in the NFL. Here is how Taaffe projects in the the 2026 NFL Draft, which takes place April 23-25:<\/p>\n

MORE: Who are the 10 best former Longhorns in the NFL?<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns defensive back Michael Taaffe (16) celebrates an interception during the Lone Star Showdown against Texas A&M at Darrell K Royal\u2013Texas Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

Michael Taaffe bio<\/p>\n

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Notes: Didn\u2019t have any recruiting stars out of Westlake and originally committed to Rice as a walk-on\u2026 played in 53 games with 36 starts at Texas\u2026 earned second-team All-American honors from the Associated Press in 2024\u2026 received all-conference honors in both the Big 12 and the SEC\u2026 ended his career with 222 tackles, seven interceptions and 21 passes defended.\u00a0<\/p>\n

TRANSFER LATEST:\u00a0Who’s in the transfer portal, who’s declared for NFL draft<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael Taaffe draft profile<\/p>\n

Most of this information will not be available until Texas\u2019 pro day or the NFL Scouting Combine.<\/p>\n

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Arm length:\u00a0Not yet available\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hand size: Not yet available<\/p>\n

40-yard dash time: Unofficial 4.55\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bench press:\u00a0Not yet available\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Shuttle time: Not yet available\u00a0<\/p>\n

MORE: How Arch Manning, Longhorns’ OL turned a corner vs Michigan<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael Taaffe scouting report\u00a0<\/p>\n

Strengths:\u00a0Film junkie with good instincts who excels in presnap route recognition… versatility in coverage and comfortable matching up in the slot or with tight ends off the edge\u2026 physical at contact with receivers and in run support\u2026 projects as an immediate special-teams star.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Weaknesses:\u00a0At 189 pounds, can have trouble shedding blockers in run support\u2026 sometimes dips helmet looking for big hit, which can lead to missed tackles or targeting calls\u2026 has short-area quickness but lacks elite speed, which hurts in vertical coverage.<\/p>\n

What our reporter noticed:\u00a0Taaffe\u2019s value to the Texas defense proved most evident when he missed a month in midseason with a broken hand; without the safety directing traffic, the Longhorns had trouble lining up<\/a> in the secondary and endured a rash of coverage busts. Taaffe provided a security blanket of sorts because of his understanding of the defensive scheme, and that ability to get everyone lined up correctly could help him see early playing time in the NFL \u2014 if he can avoid being overwhelmed by the size and speed of the next level.\u00a0<\/p>\n

NFL player comp: Joshua Martellus, Minnesota Vikings<\/p>\n

Michael Taaffe positional rankings<\/p>\n

Rankings as of mid-February.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Rankings as of mid-February<\/p>\n

PFF:No. 111 prospect overall,\u00a0No. 16 CB<\/a><\/p>\n

CBS:\u00a0No. 108 overall, No. 13 CB<\/a><\/p>\n

Bleacher Report:\u00a0No. 31 overall, No. 5 CB<\/a><\/p>\n

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Mel Kiper, ESPN: \u201cJust missed\u201d status in top 10<\/p>\n

Matt Miller,\u00a0ESPN: NR top 5<\/p>\n

Jordan Reid,\u00a0ESPN: NR top 5<\/p>\n

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Steve Muench, ESPN: NR top 5<\/p>\n

PFF: No. 8 safety, No. 121 overall<\/p>\n

Michael Taaffe draft projections\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most draft projections see Taaffe as a Day Two pick, which includes the second and third rounds. Based on Taaffe\u2019s status as outside of most top-10 rankings for safeties, that seems high, but Taaffe\u2019s reputation as a player that can make an immediate impact on special teams helps his cause. The NFL Combine and the Texas pro day could prove decisive, since NFL scouts still question Taaffe\u2019s linear speed and athletic ability.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Michael Taaffe stats by season\u00a0<\/p>\n

2022:\u00a013 games played, 26 tackles, 0 interceptions, 1 pass breakup\u00a0<\/p>\n

2023:\u00a014 games played, 48 tackles, 3 interceptions, 5 pass breakups\u00a0<\/p>\n

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2024:\u00a016 games played, 78 tackles, 2 interceptions, 12 pass breakups\u00a0<\/p>\n

2025:\u00a010 games played, 70 tackles, 2 interceptions, 3 pass breakups\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By any metric, safety\u00a0Michael Taaffe leaves Texas football as a Longhorn legend. Don\u2019t believe it? Here\u2019s a quick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171201,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[12468,6183,27,29,537,536,28],"class_list":["post-171200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-michael-taaffe","tag-nfl-draft","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-texas-longhorns-football","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}