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Taylor Rapp

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Taylor Rapp
refer to caption
Rapp in 2020
No. 9 – Buffalo Bills
Position:Safety
Personal information
Born: (1997-12-22) December 22, 1997 (age 27)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:208 lb (94 kg)
Career information
High school:Sehome (Bellingham, Washington)
College:Washington (2016–2018)
NFL draft:2019 / round: 2 / pick: 61
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 2, 2024
Total tackles:390
Sacks:2
Pass deflections:26
Interceptions:10
Forced fumbles:1
Fumble recoveries:4
Defensive touchdowns:1
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Taylor Michael Rapp (born December 22, 1997) is an American professional football safety for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Washington, and was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the second round of the 2019 NFL draft.

Early life

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Rapp was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to a Chinese mother from Shanghai and a Caucasian father from Canada.[1] 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.[2] 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."[3]

Rapp attended Sehome High School in Bellingham, Washington. He played safety and running back and also ran track.[4] Due to his success, he played football for the U-16 and U-17 USA national teams.[5] He committed to Washington in the spring of his junior year, choosing the Huskies over several Football Bowl Subdivision programs, including Oregon, Stanford, Nebraska, and Notre Dame.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8]

College career

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Freshman

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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 quarterback 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.[9] Rapp was recognized by the Pac-12 as the conference's Freshman Defensive Player of the Year.[10] On December 12, Rapp was named to the ESPN True Freshman All-America team.[11] On December 19, he was named to the Pro Football Focus Freshman All-American team.[12] On January 9, Rapp was named to the Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America team.[13]

Sophomore

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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.[14] 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

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Prior to his junior season, Rapp was named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press[15] and Sports Illustrated.[16] On January 2, 2019, Rapp announced that he would forgo his final year of eligibility and declare for the 2019 NFL draft.[17]

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 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)		 4.78 s 1.61 s 2.75 s 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/Pro Day[18][19][20]

Los Angeles Rams

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2019

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See also: 2019 Los Angeles Rams season

The Los Angeles Rams selected Rapp in the second round (61st overall) of the 2019 NFL draft.[21] He was the fifth safety drafted in 2019.[22] On June 7, 2019, the 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.[23]

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.[24] 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 and Jalen Ramsey 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.[25] In Week 17 against the Cardinals, Rapp recovered a fumble lost by Kyler Murray and intercepted another pass thrown by Murray in the 31–24 win.[26]

2020

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See also: 2020 Los Angeles Rams season

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.[27] In Week 8 against the Miami Dolphins, Rapp forced a fumble on running back and former college teammate Myles Gaskin which was recovered by the Rams during the 28–17 loss.[28] He suffered a knee injury in Week 10 and was placed on injured reserve on November 17, 2020.[29]

2021

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See also: 2021 Los Angeles Rams season

In Week 6, Rapp recorded two interceptions, three passes defensed and five tackles in a 38–11 win over the New York Giants, earning National Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week.[30] In Week 10 against the 49ers on Monday Night Football, Rapp recorded 10 tackles and got his first full career sack on Jimmy Garoppolo during the 31–10 loss.[31] He suffered a concussion in Week 17 against the San Francisco 49ers which caused him to miss the first three playoff games.[32] He won his first Super Bowl title, in which he had seven total tackles, when the Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.[33]

2022

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See also: 2022 Los Angeles Rams season

In Week 14, Rapp sealed the Rams' victory over the Las Vegas Raiders after intercepting quarterback Derek Carr in final seconds of the game.[34] The following week, he recorded his second interception in the season against Green Bay Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers.[35]

Buffalo Bills

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On March 31, 2023, Rapp signed a one-year, $1.77 million contract with the Buffalo Bills.[36]

2023

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See also: 2023 Buffalo Bills season

In his first year with the Bills, Rapp was mostly a backup. On September 23, 2023, the NFL fined Rapp for $9,611 for a helmet-to-helmet hit against wide receiver Davante Adams in the Week 2 win over the Raiders.[37] In the second quarter of the Week 11 game against the New York Jets, he suffered a neck injury after colliding with running back Breece Hall with Rapp ultimately being carted off the field in an ambulance.[38][39] In the season finale against the Miami Dolphins, Rapp made a crucial interception with 1:13 remaining in the 4th quarter to clinch the AFC East for the Bills.

2024

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See also: 2024 Buffalo Bills season

On March 8, 2024, the Bills re-signed Rapp to a three-year contract extension.[40] With the departures of long-time safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer, Rapp earned one of two starting spots out of training camp alongside Damar Hamlin.[41] During the Bills' week 4 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens on NBC Sunday Night Football, Rapp suffered a concussion while tacking running back Derrick Henry,[42] causing him to miss the next game. He returned against the New York Jets, playing every snap while donning a guardian cap on top of his helmet.[43]

NFL career statistics

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Legend
Won the Super Bowl
Bold Career high

Regular season

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Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GP GS Comb Solo Ast Sack PD Int Yds Avg Lng TD FF FR
2019 LAR 15 10 100 62 38 0.0 8 2 54 27.0 31 1 0 1
2020 LAR 9 5 44 32 12 0.0 3 1 0 0.0 0 0 1 0
2021 LAR 17 17 94 64 30 1.5 6 4 31 7.8 18 0 0 1
2022 LAR 16 16 92 58 34 0.0 6 2 18 9.0 18 0 0 1
2023 BUF 16 4 50 33 17 0.5 2 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 1
2024 BUF 2 2 10 6 4 0.0 1 0 0 — 0 0 0 0
Career 75 54 390 255 135 2 26 10 103 10.3 31 1 1 4

Postseason

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Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GP GS Comb Solo Ast Sack PD Int Yds Avg Lng TD FF FR
2021 LAR 1 0 7 4 3 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0
Career 1 0 7 4 3 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0

Personal life

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Rapp is engaged to Dani Johnson. He proposed to her following his Super Bowl LVI win with the Rams.[44]

References

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  1. ^ "Taylor Rapp Full Story | Rolling with the Rookies | Hyundai". YouTube.
  2. ^ Jude, Adam (December 29, 2016). "Taylor Rapp, UW's emerging star safety, hardened by big brother's love in small-town Bellingham". Seattletimes.com. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  3. ^ Fenelon, Andy (August 29, 2018). "How Washington's Taylor Rapp overcame his hometown's apathetic football culture, constant losing and racial prejudice to become the most-feared free safety in college football". NFL.com. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  4. ^ "Taylor Rapp Track&Field Bio". Athletic.net. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  5. ^ Frollo, Joe (January 29, 2014). "USA Football rosters announced for 2014 International Bowl". USAFootball.com. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  6. ^ Schnell, Lindsay (December 29, 2016). "A freshman in name only, Washington's Taylor Rapp is key to the Huskies' defense". si.com. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  7. ^ "Taylor Rapp, Washington DB". Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  8. ^ "Taylor Rapp – 2016 Football Roster – GoHuskies.com | University of Washington Athletics". GoHuskies.com. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  9. ^ Myerberg, Paul (December 11, 2016). "USA TODAY Sports' freshman All-America teams". USATODAY.com. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
  10. ^ "Pac-12 Football Awards And All-Conference Team Announced". Pac-12. November 29, 2016.
  11. ^ "Alabama QB Jalen Hurts leads true freshman All-America team". ESPN. December 12, 2016.
  12. ^ PFF’S FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICAN TEAM
  13. ^ FWAA NAMES 2016 SOUND MIND SOUND BODY FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICA TEAM
  14. ^ "College Football's Top 100 Players of 2017". SI.com. August 9, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  15. ^ AP 2018 Preseason All-America Team, List
  16. ^ SI's 2018 Preseason All-America Teams
  17. ^ "Washington safety Taylor Rapp declares for NFL draft". AP. January 2, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  18. ^ "Taylor Rapp Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  19. ^ "2019 Draft Scout Taylor Rapp, Washington NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile". draftscout.com. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  20. ^ "Taylor Rapp 2019 NFL Draft Profile". ESPN. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  21. ^ "2019 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  22. ^ "2019 NFL Draft Results: Los Angeles Rams select Washington Huskies S Taylor Rapp". Turf Show Times. April 26, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  23. ^ "Spotrac.com: Taylor Rapp contract". Spotrac.com. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  24. ^ "Goff throws for 424 yards, Rams roll past Cardinals 34-7". ESPN.com. Associated Press. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  25. ^ "49ers eliminate Rams from playoff contention with 34-31 win". ESPN.com. Associated Press. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  26. ^ "Rams say goodbye to Coliseum with 31-24 win over Cardinals". ESPN.com. Associated Press. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  27. ^ "Chicago Bears at Los Angeles Rams - October 26th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  28. ^ "Los Angeles Rams at Miami Dolphins – November 1st, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  29. ^ Jackson, Stu (November 17, 2020). "Rams sign kicker Matt Gay, place three players on IR". TheRams.com. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  30. ^ Maya, Adam (October 20, 2021). "Cowboys QB Dak Prescott, Titans RB Derrick Henry among NFL Players of the Week". NFL.com. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  31. ^ "Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers-November 15th,2021". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  32. ^ Henderson, Brady (January 15, 2022). "Los Angeles Rams safety Taylor Rapp fails to clear concussion protocol, will miss playoff game". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  33. ^ "Super Bowl LVI - Los Angeles Rams vs. Cincinnati Bengals - February 13th, 2022". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  34. ^ Treacy, Dan (December 9, 2022). "Raiders vs. Rams final score, results: Baker Mayfield leads stunning comeback in storybook LA debut". Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  35. ^ DaSilva, Cameron (December 19, 2022). "Watch: Taylor Rapp easily picks off terrible throw by Aaron Rodgers". USAToday.com. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  36. ^ "Bills sign S Taylor Rapp to one-year deal". BuffaloBills.com. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  37. ^ Maglioccheti, Geoff (September 23, 2023). "Bad Rapp? Bills' Safety Fined for Davante Adams Hit". SI.com.
  38. ^ Arnold, Christian (November 19, 2023). "Bills' Taylor Rapp taken off field in ambulance after scary collision". NYPost.com. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  39. ^ Getzenberg, Alaina (November 19, 2023). "Bills safety Taylor Rapp leaves Jets game with neck injury". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  40. ^ Glab, Maddy (March 8, 2024). "Bills re-sign safety Taylor Rapp to three-year contract extension". Buffalobills.com. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  41. ^ "Bills' depth chart reveals who is in line to start at safety in Week 1". Buffalo Bills On SI. September 3, 2024. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  42. ^ Miller, Ryan. "Taylor Rapp injury: Buffalo Bills safety suffers concussion tackling Derrick Henry". Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  43. ^ "Taylor Rapp first Buffalo Bills player to wear a guardian cap during a game". wgrz.com. October 15, 2024. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  44. ^ Bjornson, Greta (February 13, 2022). "Rams Safety Taylor Rapp Proposes to Girlfriend After Super Bowl 2022 Victory". People. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
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