Vincent Taylor Could Win Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year

Vincent Taylor has been Oklahoma State’s most important defensive player so far this year. The numbers are stunning for a defensive lineman.

• 36 tackles
• 3 blocked kicks
• 2 forced fumbles
• 9.5 tackles for loss
• 5.5 sacks

And all of this from the defensive tackle position! Look at these lists. He’s the only one at the top along with Aaron Curry of TCU that plays defensive tackle and not defensive end or linebacker.

“He might win defensive player of the year,” said Carson Cunningham on our podcast on Monday. “This guy has become of one of the great defensive tackles OSU has ever had. That’s not hyperbole at all. He’s been sensational. When you look up and down the Big 12, who’s going to beat him out for Defensive Player of the Year?”

Mike Gundy agreed.

“He’s up there with being as good as any player we’ve had on the defensive side of the ball for us,” said Gundy. “He’s come a long way and made great strides in the last six months. He’s another guy that, a year from now, can really position himself to make some good money and have the opportunity to play this game for another six or seven years just seeing the strides he’s made over the last six months.”

.@CoachGundy on #okstate DT Vincent Taylor: "He's up there with being as good as any player we've had on the defensive side of the ball." pic.twitter.com/XAYD2YugiW

— Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) November 15, 2016

Only two DTs have won Big 12 DPOY in the last seven years — Ndamukong Suh in 2009 and Andrew Billings last year. But Taylor is positioning himself nicely. There are certainly bigger names — Malik Jefferson and Jordan Willis come to mind — but I’m not sure there has been a player on the defensive line who has had more of an impact on his team’s season than Taylor.

Rasul Douglas of West Virginia could stake that claim with a league-leading six picks on the conference’s best defense. Maybe one of the TCU DEs based on sacks depending on how they finish. But Taylor is certainly up there. And his defense has been pretty solid throughout the year.

If he has a big Bedlam game and OSU wins the Big 12, he could end up with OSU’s first-ever outright Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award (Emmanuel Ogbah shared it last year with Billings).