Taylor Rapp

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Taylor Rapp
refer to caption
Rapp in 2020
No. 24 – Los Angeles Rams
Position:Free safety
Personal information
Born: (1997-12-22) December 22, 1997 (age 24)
Atlanta, Georgia
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:208 lb (94 kg)
Career information
High school:Sehome (Bellingham, Washington)
College:Washington
NFL Draft:2019 / Round: 2 / Pick: 61
Career history
  • Los Angeles Rams (2019–present)
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2021
Total tackles:230
Sacks:1.5
Pass deflections:16
Interceptions:7
Forced fumbles:1
Fumble recoveries:2
Touchdowns:1
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Taylor Rapp (born December 22, 1997) is an American football free safety for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Washington.

Early years[]

Rapp was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to a Chinese mother from Shanghai and a Caucasian father from Canada.[2] After his birth, his parents decided to move to the West Coast. He was raised in Bellingham, Washington, with his older brother of three years, Austin.[3] NFL.com described Rapp as a player who has "beaten long odds, undeterred by a city that failed to support prep football, a high school community that openly mocked him, coaches who were unprepared to develop his talents, college recruiters who blatantly overlooked him and kids who racially taunted him for his Chinese ethnicity."[4]

Rapp attended Sehome High School in Bellingham, Washington. He played safety and running back and also ran track.[5] Due to his success, he played football for the U-16 and U-17 USA national teams. [6][7] He committed to Washington in the spring of his junior year, choosing the Huskies over several FBS programs, including Oregon, Stanford, Nebraska, and Notre Dame. [8] Rapp was ranked as the #1 safety prospect in the state of Washington and the 9th best safety on the West Coast by Scout.com.[9] He received an invitation to play in the prestigious U.S. Army All-American Bowl game, but elected not to attend as it interfered with his schedule following his early enrollment at the University of Washington.[10]

College career[]

Freshman[]

Rapp enrolled early at UW in January 2016 and participated in winter workouts and spring practices. He saw playing time in all 14 games of his freshman season, starting 10 of them. He started to emerge as a play maker in the secondary late in the season after nabbing a pair of interceptions against USC. In the 2016 Pac-12 Football Championship Game, Rapp intercepted back-to-back passes from Colorado QB Sefo Liufau, returning one of them for a touchdown. For his outstanding performance, he was named the Pac-12 Championship Game MVP. Following the regular season, Rapp was named to the USA Today Freshman All-America team.[11] Rapp was recognized by the Pac-12 as the conference's Freshman Defensive Player of the Year.[12] On December 12, Rapp was named to the ESPN True Freshman All-America team.[13] On December 19, he was named to the Pro Football Focus Freshman All-American team.[14] On January 9, Rapp was named to the Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America team.[15]

Sophomore[]

Prior to the 2017 season, Rapp was named one of the 100 best players in college football by Sports Illustrated, coming in at number 39 on the list.[16] Earning first-team All-Pac-12 honors for the 2017 season, he was also named to the Academic All-Pac-12 first team. He was also named a CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 player. Rapp gained acceptance into the University of Washington's prestigious Foster School of Business late in 2017.

Junior[]

Prior to his junior season, Rapp was named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press[17] and Sports Illustrated.[18] On January 2, 2019, Rapp announced that he would forgo his final year of eligibility and declare for the 2019 NFL Draft.[19]

Professional career[]

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
5 ft 11+3⁄4 in
(1.82 m) 		208 lb
(94 kg) 		30+3⁄4 in
(0.78 m) 		9 in
(0.23 m)		 3.99 s 6.82 s 35.0 in
(0.89 m)		 9 ft 7 in
(2.92 m)		 17 reps
All values from NFL Combine[20]

The Los Angeles Rams selected Rapp in the second round (61st overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft. He was the fifth safety drafted in 2019.[21]

2019[]

On June 7, 2019, the Los Angeles Rams signed Rapp to a four-year, $4.67 million contract that includes $2.12 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.41 million.[22]

In Week 13 against the Arizona Cardinals, Rapp recorded an interception off fellow rookie Kyler Murray and returned it for a 31-yard touchdown in the 34–7 win. This was Rapp's first career interception and touchdown in the NFL.[23] In Week 16 against the San Francisco 49ers, Rapp recorded 5 tackles in the 34–31 loss. With 58 seconds left in the game on third and 16, Rapp made an error in coverage which resulted in a 46-yard completion to wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, which eventually led to a game-winning field goal that knocked the Rams out of playoff contention.[24] In Week 17 against the Arizona Cardinals, Rapp recovered a fumble lost by Kyler Murray and intercepted another pass thrown by Murray in the 31–24 win.[25]

2020[]

In Week 7 against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football, Rapp recorded his first interception of the season off a pass thrown by Nick Foles during the 24–10 win.[26] In Week 8 against the Miami Dolphins, Rapp forced a fumble on running back Myles Gaskin which was recovered by the Rams during the 28–17 loss.[27] He suffered a knee injury in Week 10 and was placed on injured reserve on November 17, 2020.[28]

2021[]

In Week 6, Rapp recorded two interceptions, three passes defensed and five tackles in a 38-11 win over the New York Giants, earning NFC Defensive Player of the Week.[29] In week 10 against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football, Rapp recorded 10 tackles and got his first full career sack on Jimmy Garoppolo during the 31-10 loss.[30]

References[]

  1. ^ Pac-12 Football Awards and All-Conference Team Announced
  2. ^ "Taylor Rapp Full Story | Rolling with the Rookies | Hyundai".
  3. ^ "Taylor Rapp, UW's emerging star safety, hardened by big brother's love in small-town Bellingham". December 29, 2016.
  4. ^ 'Cultural issue: How UW safety Taylor Rapp is changing football'.
  5. ^ "Taylor Rapp Track&Field Bio". Athletic.net. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  6. ^ USA Football Selects Coaching Staff and Roster for U.S. Under-16 National Team
  7. ^ USA FOOTBALL ROSTERS ANNOUNCED FOR 2014 INTERNATIONAL BOWL
  8. ^ A freshman in name only, Washington's Taylor Rapp is key to the Huskies' defense
  9. ^ "Taylor Rapp, Washington DB". Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  10. ^ "Taylor Rapp – 2016 Football Roster – GoHuskies.com | University of Washington Athletics". GoHuskies.com. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  11. ^ USA TODAY Sports' freshman All-America teams
  12. ^ Pac-12 Football Awards And All-Conference Team Announced
  13. ^ Alabama QB Jalen Hurts leads true freshman All-America team
  14. ^ PFF’S FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICAN TEAM
  15. ^ FWAA NAMES 2016 SOUND MIND SOUND BODY FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICA TEAM
  16. ^ College football's top 100 players of 2017
  17. ^ AP 2018 Preseason All-America Team, List
  18. ^ SI's 2018 Preseason All-America Teams
  19. ^ "Washington safety Taylor Rapp declares for NFL draft". AP. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  20. ^ "Taylor Rapp Combine Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  21. ^ "2019 NFL Draft Results: Los Angeles Rams select Washington Huskies S Taylor Rapp". Turf Show Times. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  22. ^ "Spotrac.com: Taylor Rapp contract". Spotrac.com. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  23. ^ "Goff throws for 424 yards, Rams roll past Cardinals 34-7". www.espn.com. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  24. ^ "49ers eliminate Rams from playoff contention with 34-31 win". www.espn.com. Associated Press. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  25. ^ "Rams say goodbye to Coliseum with 31-24 win over Cardinals". www.espn.com. Associated Press. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  26. ^ "Chicago Bears at Los Angeles Rams - October 26th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  27. ^ "Los Angeles Rams at Miami Dolphins – November 1st, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  28. ^ "Rams sign kicker Matt Gay, place three players on IR". TheRams.com. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  29. ^ "Cowboys QB Dak Prescott, Titans RB Derrick Henry among NFL Players of the Week". NFL.com. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  30. ^ "Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers-November 15th,2021". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 16, 2021.

External links[]

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