Texans\u2019 local prospect day.<\/a> That included meeting with coach DeMeco Ryans, position coaches and doing some testing and taking a medical exam.<\/p>\n\u201cIt was super nice,\u201d Blaylock told KPRC 2. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of surreal. I\u2019ve always dreamed to be in the moment, to be in a position to be drafted, or signed to an NFL team, that\u2019s been a dream as a kid. <\/p>\n
\u201cWalking up to the facility, I was just soaking it all in like \u2018Man, I\u2019m right here. I\u2019m this much closer to making it and for it to be the hometown team, you can\u2019t beat that. \u2018Just 30 mhinutes from my house up the road. It was a great experience, and I really enjoyed it.”<\/p>\n
Blaylock, the son of longtime trainer and former New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs running back Derrick Blaylock, was an all-district selection at Atascosita who was twice named the district special teams Most Valuable Player. He returned seven punts-kickoffs for touchdowns and intercepted five passes.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Encouraging words from Ryans, a two-time Pro Bowl linebacker and NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, was meaningful to Blaylock.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was just telling us to just relax and enjoy the process like it shouldn\u2019t be a stressful process, you shouldn\u2019t be uptight,\u201d Blaylock said. \u201cHe was like any shot that you get, whether you get drafted, drafted first round, drafted late round, undrafted, rookie minicamp invite, a shot is a shot. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe said, just take advantage of every opportunity you get, and just relax and enjoy the moment. Soak it all in. Be excited, but relax and enjoy it all, because not that many people get this get this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Furman, he recorded 76 tackles last season with two interceptions and returned one for a touchdown. He had 4 1\/2 tackles for losses for the Paladins. The 5-foot-10, 203-pound Lindenwood transfer also returned punt and kickoffs.<\/p>\n
At Lindenwood after transferring from Sam Houston State, he had three interceptions in his first season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not the biggest guy, not the fastest guy, but I\u2019m super instinctive,\u201d Blaylock said. \u201cI love breaking down a film and watching ways that I can get ahead of somebody. I\u2019m studying you. I\u2019m breaking it down. I\u2019m gonna know your tendencies. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I see something, I react, so I\u2019m able to make up for a lot of like, steps in that way. I\u2019m super instinctive. I\u2019m a smart player, and I\u2019m always around the ball. I feel like I\u2019m super versatile. I could play any spot in the secondary and special teams. Versatility, instinctive and just being a student of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Playing at Atascosita prepared Blaylock well for college football and the next level.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s Texas high school football,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen a lot of talent. Growing up, I played against a lot of talent. When I got to college, it was like I played against a lot of kids in high school that ended up going to big colleges or Division I. So when I got there, it wasn\u2019t a surprise, like the game wasn\u2019t moving no faster or nothing, like I already knew what to expect. So playing Texas high school football definitely helped mold me into being prepared for this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, he had an example to watch from his dad and his experience from the NFL.<\/p>\n
\u201cMan, it\u2019s super valuable,\u201d Blaylock said. \u201cGrowing up, I didn\u2019t know how valuable it was to have a dad that played at the level that I want to get to. I feel like growing up, you don\u2019t really see it. The older I got, the more appreciative I was, like, how much he poured into us, just how good of a role model he was for us, like all my brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the Texans\u2019 local day, the players arrived at 6 a.m. for breakfast followed by medical exams and some work in the weight room, including the force plate and hamstring Nordic tests.<\/p>\n
Blaylock plans to spend the draft with family.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be in the living room, chilling. with great spirits, good vibes, food, just enjoying the moment, having fun with it,\u201d Blaylock said. \u201cWhatever happens, happens. I\u2019m a big believer. I\u2019m a big religious guy, so I feel like whatever God has in store for me will be, I\u2019m not gonna be too uptight about it or too stressed, we\u2019re gonna be chilling in the living room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 For Taylen Blaylock, Friday morning was a special time. The Furman safety and Atascosita graduate participated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[117485,7,117486,3131,221,253,2368,117484,6,15,222],"class_list":{"0":"post-865020","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-texans","8":"tag-atascosita-hs","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-furman-university","11":"tag-high-school-sports","12":"tag-houston","13":"tag-houston-texans","14":"tag-houstontexans","15":"tag-kaylen-blaylock","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-nfl-draft","18":"tag-texans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116393204656410644","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}