Bryan Draws Crowd at Gators' Pro Day

Taven Bryan performs a drill on Wednesday at UF's Pro Day. (Photo: Carly Mackler/UAA Communications)

Bryan Draws Crowd at Gators' Pro Day

Wednesday, March 28, 2018 | Football, Scott Carter

Defensive lineman Taven Bryan is projected as a first-round pick in April's NFL Draft following a late-season surge.

By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The crowd gathered as defensive lineman Taven Bryan, considered Florida's top available player in next month's NFL Draft, beat up tackling dummies positioned around him during a drill Wednesday.

Afterward, Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli stopped Bryan to talk for a few minutes. Others followed, and then Bryan stepped in front of a horde of microphones and cameras to talk to the media.

The 6-foot-4, 291-pound Bryan was the main attraction at UF's annual Pro Day.

"He's got so much upside,'' teammate Marcell Harris said.

A year ago, Bryan was a relative unknown outside his native Wyoming and Gator Nation. On Wednesday, draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. projected Bryan as a first-round pick going to Detroit in his latest mock draft for ESPN.com.

"This pick is all about projection, as Bryan is a freakish talent who didn't produce to his ability at Florida,'' Kiper wrote. "But there were games (turn on the Texas A&M tape from 2017) in which he looked like a top-10 pick."

Bryan moved into the starting lineup as a redshirt junior and finished with a career-high 40 tackles and four sacks, a significant increase in production over the 27 tackles and 1.5 sacks in his first two seasons. His breakout performance came against Texas A&M in October when Bryan had seven tackles and 1.5 sacks while manhandling the Aggies' offensive line much of the night in Florida's 19-17 loss.

Bryan further helped his cause in February at the NFL scouting combine when he ran the 40-yard dash in less than five seconds and bench-pressed 225 pounds 30 times. The opportunity to be a first-round pick seems a long way from Casper, Wyo., but Bryan said he had lofty goals when he arrived at UF as a mid-year enrollee in 2014.

"That's the end goal,'' he said. "You think about it. It would mean a lot. You always want to do better. You want to be the first pick, but sometimes that's just not realistic. I feel like I got a lot better [as a junior]. The defensive style definitely suited me better. It was a more aggressive, get-up-the-field-and-make-plays [defense]."

Bryan's emergence as a backup interior lineman to potential first-round pick has turned heads and raised eyebrows among many diehard fans and draft analysts.

Do not include his UF teammates in that category.

"I feel like it's no surprise,'' defensive back Duke Dawson said. "The guy's an animal. I mean, he comes out to practice and shows it and he shows it in a game."

Besides getting a player who could be a game-changer on the interior defensive line, Gators safety Nick Washington said whichever team drafts Bryan will benefit from his presence in the locker room, too.

"Taven is a guy I'd want on my team 10 times out of 10,'' Washington said. "He's a hard worker, but at the same time, he kind of brings a little bit of kid to the party. He lightens the mood."

The Gators have had at least one defensive lineman drafted in each of the past six years, including Caleb Brantley and Joey Ivie in 2017, the players primarily responsible from keeping Bryan in a backup role his first two seasons.

Bryan started 11 games last season and began to gain traction in the draft with a strong second half of the season, highlighted by the performance against Texas A&M. Bryan's combination of size, quickness and brute strength offers an enticing blend for NFL scouts.

"Bryan is raw, but he could be a star given time (and coaching) to develop,'' Kiper wrote.

In his latest mock draft, NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein has Bryan going to Dallas with the 19th overall pick.

"Talented defender with rare athletic ability and play traits," Zierlein wrote. "Bryan's lack of production is due to a lack of instincts and feel for the position and he's still in a developmental phase as a prospect. Bryan played inside at Florida but has the size and talent to play inside or outside. His instincts and feel are below average, so his development could take time, but when he is a finished product, Bryan has the ability to become a disruptive, highly productive talent with a very high ceiling."

Bryan embraced questions about his ability on Wednesday with a confident tone and understanding there is much more to learn. He didn't start playing football seriously until high school and did not grow up around the game.

More often than not, Bryan was outside hunting and fishing or at the rodeo the weekends.

"It's a good day. I got to meet a lot of coaches, talk to them, see what I need to work on,'' Bryan said. "Tape is really what matters, honestly. I feel like I have very exceptional tape, especially for a 4-3 defense."

Bryan was pleased overall with his performance Wednesday. He said he could have finished the cone drills better and plans to take some of the advice he heard and practice on his own before spending much of April flying around the country for meetings with teams prior to the draft.

He considers his run defense ahead of his pass-rush ability at this stage of his career.

"I never get blown off the ball, I always hold my gap,'' Bryan said. "I'm pretty stout for 290. I just want to come out there and be the best I possibly can and prove I'm a first-round pick. And then I'd really like to play exceptionally well next year."