Former Tennessee standout Alontae Taylor inadvertently throws shade at another former Vol
Former Tennessee Vols cornerback Alontae Taylor likely didn't mean to do it, but he inadvertently threw some shade this week at another former Vol. Taylor, who is in his rookie season with the New Orleans Saints after being selected in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, played against former Vols wide receiver Cordarrelle […]
Former Tennessee Vols cornerback Alontae Taylor likely didn't mean to do it, but he inadvertently threw some shade this week at another former Vol.
Taylor, who is in his rookie season with the New Orleans Saints after being selected in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, played against former Vols wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson and the Atlanta Falcons this past weekend.
Patterson, who was at Tennessee six years before Taylor, primarily plays running back for Atlanta after spending the majority of his career as a wide receiver. Arthur Smith and the Falcons are the first NFL franchise to future out how to best utilize Patterson's elite skills.
While Patterson mostly lines up at running back these days, he still lines up as a receiver at times.
And on Sunday against the Saints, he was lined up against Taylor at one point.
On Atlanta's first offensive play of the game, they sent Patterson out wide and immediately tested Taylor with a go route.
Taylor, however, was ready for the play because he said Patterson only runs one route when lined up as a receiver.
“I knew when Cordarrelle was outside, he only runs one route,” said Taylor (via Nola.com). “So at the beginning of the game, very first play, I knew what the route was. I basically ran it for them."
“I didn’t expect that (for Atlanta to test Taylor). I guess they thought I was slow, maybe they hadn’t seen the speed. But when they tried it, I did what I had to do.”
The knock on Patterson when he was playing wide receiver full time was that he wasn't a good route runner and was limited in his route tree. So Taylor's comments, while likely not an insult, probably stung a bit for Patterson to hear.
Patterson, however, got some revenge during the game.
In the fourth quarter, Patterson scored on a handoff where he got past former Vols defensive lineman Shy Tuttle, who plays a key role for the Saints.
There was a lot of Vol on Vol crime in this matchup. But ultimately, it was Taylor, Tuttle, and Alvin Kamara who got the last laugh as New Orleans came away with the 21-18 win.
Featured image via Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
