Caleb Taylor has put on 60 pounds since arriving, likes current weight

Caleb Taylor is playing at the heaviest weight since he arrived on campus. The defensive tackle, who played his senior season at Staley High in Kansas City, showed up to KU weighing over 50 pounds lighter.

“Right now, I am 311,” Taylor said. “Last year I was maybe 305 or somewhere around 300 to 305. So, I am. I do want to play a little heavier than I played at last year, but so far, I love it.”

Taylor said he was 250 pounds when he showed up to Kansas to start his career in the summer of 2020. Adding 60 pounds since that time has not been an easy, but it helped when he made the transition to the interior of the defensive line.

“It definitely was not linear,” Taylor said. “It was not just constant progress. It was up, down, up, down. And I think not this last season, but the season before that, I had kind of did the same thing where I got up to a super heavy weight and lost it halfway through.”

The strength and conditioning program, along with the nutrition plan has helped him keep his weight on and he likes where he is.

“It was just being able to keep locking in on the nutrition, all the details with that, just learning what I can and can't do, the time to get my meals, what I need to be doing to keep myself in the best position,” he said. “So last year was a good year. I didn't lose any weight. I stayed where I wanted to be at. And this year, I'll probably try to play a little heavier, but still had the same goals and not being so up and down, and I feel like I'm in a great place.”

He is having a good spring and earned praise from defensive tackles Jim Panagos. Taylor is carrying the weight well and providing leadership to the younger players at defensive tackle.

“He's really explosive and really strong,” Panagos said. “He's carrying his weight, and he just has a great attitude right now. I tell the players every time, everyone's process is their journey. Some players get it right away, some players get it in three years, some players get it four years, two years. But right now, Caleb is really practicing at a high level. He's really doing a great job with leadership.”