2014 Colorado State football recruiting: Rams nab Texas LB Demontrie Taylor

Head coach Jim McElwain and the Colorado State Rams certainly can't be pleased with the team's 2-4 start, but the coaching staff's efforts on the recruiting trail are at least paying dividends.

The Rams received a verbal commitment from Demontrie Taylor, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound outside linebacker from John H. Guyer High School in Denton, Texas. He is not rated by any of the major scouting websites, but Rivals.com notes interest from Houston, Kansas State, New Mexico, New Mexico State and Sam Houston State.

On tape, Taylor looks like a bit hitter despite his undersized frame, and while his measurables and athleticism might mean an eventual move to safety or a hybrid role, he brings to mind another undersized Texas linebacker in former Ram Mychal Sisson. Sisson never quite added enough weight to grow into a prototypical linebacker's frame, but his production over four years in Fort Collins was second to none.

If Taylor stays at linebacker, he'll join a position group already loaded with youth. Shaquil Barrett is the only senior listed among the position group, and his role is more of an end/linebacker hybrid. Fellow Texan Bryson Gates -- who gave the Rams a verbal in May -- is also listed as an outside linebacker.

Taylor will need to put on weight to play in the second level in the MWC, but if these strength and conditioning videos are any indication, he's well on his way.