Lane Taylor is Proving to be Another UDFA Success Story

A post-draft scouting report of Lane Taylor boiled down to one word: strong.

That’s what the anonymous personnel man told Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Bob McGinn of the Packers’ newly acquired undrafted free agent guard.

Taylor, coming off an All-Big 12 season in which he didn’t surrender a sack all year, would be something of an afterthought for the Packers that season. Although he made the team has a rookie, his one chance at extended play didn’t go so well, as Gary detailed for us earlier this season.

Now, it’s a completely different story. After injuries to David Bakhtiari and Bryan Bulaga, Taylor could be the Packers’ most indispensable lineman, although Corey Linsley has a legitimate claim to that title as well. The Packers trust so Taylor so completely that he was installed as the starting left tackle less than 48 hours before kickoff last week, and by all accounts it went as well as it possibly could have.

Packers front office and coaching staff deserve credit

It speaks volumes of the front office, coaching staff, and Taylor himself that he’s gone from undrafted free agent to a third contract with Green Bay, to say nothing of his ability to step into a high profile, high pressure position and succeed where others have failed.

Under Ted Thompson, the Packers have always banked on undrafted free agents to fill out their roster, sometimes to great success. Taylor deserves to be ranked among their greatest successes ever. It’s a credit to the entire organization that he’s become what he is today.