Taylor Decker (born August 23, 1993) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

offensive tackle for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the Ohio State Buckeyes, where he was a consensus

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

. He was selected by the Lions in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft.

Early life

Decker attended Butler High School in Vandalia, Ohio. He was a three-year starter for the

team as a

left tackle A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

. He was rated by Rivals.com as a four-star recruit and was ranked as the 23rd-best offensive tackle in his class. He originally committed to the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

to play

but changed to

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

. In addition to football, Decker played basketball in high school.

College career

Decker played in all 12 games as a true freshman in the 2012 season. He played mostly special teams, but played 22 snaps on offense. Decker took over as a starter his sophomore season in the 2013 season, starting all 14 games at the right tackle position. Decker moved from right tackle to left tackle his junior year in 2014 and was the Buckeyes only returning starter on the offensive line. He started all 15 games, including the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship victory over

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Professional career

left, 200px, Decker in 2019 Decker was drafted in the first round with the 16th overall pick by the

in the 2016 NFL draft. On May 6, 2016, the Lions signed Decker to a fully guaranteed four-year, $10.96 million contract with a signing bonus of $6.17 million. Decker started all 16 games at the left tackle position in his rookie season and was the only player besides

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Matthew Stafford John Matthew Stafford (born February 7, 1988) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs football, Georg ...

to play every snap on offense for the Lions. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team. Decker was named the Lions Rookie of the Year for 2016 in voting by the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association. On June 6, 2017, it was revealed that Decker had undergone shoulder surgery, and was ruled out for four to six months. He was placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list to start the 2017 season. He was activated off PUP on November 11, 2017, and started the final eight games of the season at left tackle. On December 2, 2018, Decker caught a touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford, when celebrating for the touchdown he threw the football into the stands. After the game Decker tweeted that this touchdown was his first touchdown ever, and he had been playing football since the first grade, and requested that he could get in contact with the fan who caught it. On December 3, 2018, Decker was put in contact with the fan that caught it and got his first ever touchdown ball back. On April 29, 2019, the Lions exercised the fifth-year option on Decker's contract. On September 1, 2020, Decker signed a five-year, $70.35 million contract extension with the Lions. Decker revealed in an interview with '' Pardon My Take'', that he played the start of the 2020 season with appendicitis. On September 11, 2021, Decker was placed on injured reserve after undergoing finger surgery. He was activated on November 2, 2021. He appeared in and started nine games in the 2021 season. On January 2, 2022, in a game against the Seattle Seahawks, Decker scored his second career touchdown on a pass from Tim Boyle. Decker was awarded the 2022 media-friendly Good Guy Award by the Detroit Sports Media Association and Detroit chapter of the Pro Football Writers Association. In the 2022 season, he started in all 17 games. In the 2023 season, he appeared in and started 15 games. On July 29, 2024, Decker and the Lions agreed to a three–year, $60 million contract extension. In the 2024 season, he appeared in and started 14 games.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Detroit Lions bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Decker, Taylor 1993 births Living people People from Vandalia, Ohio Players of American football from Montgomery County, Ohio American football offensive tackles Ohio State Buckeyes football players All-American college football players Detroit Lions players