Trent Nelson Taylor (born April 30, 1994) 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 ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punt (gridiron football), punts and kickoff (gridiron football), kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusivel ...

for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

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

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and Lady Techsters, commonly abbreviated LA Tech and Dogs, refer to the sports teams of Louisiana Tech University, in Ruston, Louisiana. The teams compete in Division I of NCAA sports. Since 2013, Louisiana Tech has been ...

and was selected by the 49ers in the fifth round of the

2017 NFL draft The 2017 NFL draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

. He has previously played in the NFL for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

Early life

Taylor attended

Evangel Christian Academy Evangel Christian Academy is a private, Christian school in Shreveport, Louisiana with two campuses spanning grades K-12. It is owned & operated privately in association with Shreveport Community Church (formerly First Assembly of God Church) whi ...

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

, where he played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

for the Eagles. He had 107 receptions for 1,650 yards and 20

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

his senior year and 65 catches for 1,075 yards and 18 touchdowns his junior year. He committed to

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public university, public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and Carnegie Classification of Institu ...

to play

College career

Taylor attended Louisiana Tech from 2013 to 2016. During his career, Taylor had 327 receptions for 4,179 yards and 32 touchdowns. The 327 receptions were a school record. In his final collegiate game, he was named the MVP of the

2016 Armed Forces Bowl The 2016 Armed Forces Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on December 23, 2016, at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. The fourteenth annual edition of the Armed Forces Bowl was one of the 2016–17 bowl g ...

after recording 12 receptions for 233 yards and two touchdowns.

College statistics

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers (first stint)

The

selected Taylor in the fifth round (177th overall) of the

. On September 10, 2017, in his NFL debut, Taylor had one reception for eight yards in the season opening 23–3 loss at home to the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

. In Week 3, against the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

, he scored his first career touchdown, a three-yard pass from quarterback

Brian Hoyer Axel Edward Brian Hoyer (born October 13, 1985) is an American professional American football, football quarterback. Since joining the NFL in 2009 as an undrafted free agent, he has started for eight different teams, the second-most in league hi ...

, in the fourth quarter, as the 49ers narrowly lost 41–39. Taylor finished his rookie season with 43 receptions for 430 yards and two touchdowns. In the 2018 season, Taylor had 26 receptions for 215 yards and one touchdown, which came in Week 5 against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

. On September 20, 2019, Taylor was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

after suffering a setback from offseason foot surgery. In the first game of 2020 and Taylor's first game since 2018, he caught two passes for 7 yards and returned 2 punts for 21 yards as the 49ers lost 24–20 to the

. He was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

list by the 49ers on December 23, 2020, and activated on January 6, 2021. In the 2020 season, he appeared in 12 games and started one. He played on offense and contributed on punt return duties.

Cincinnati Bengals

On May 17, 2021, Taylor signed with the

. He was waived on August 31, 2021, and re-signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

the next day. He finished the regular season with 2 receptions for 41 yards, 4 kick returns for 68 yards, and 7 punts for 52 yards. On January 29, 2022, Taylor was promoted to the active roster for the

AFC Championship Game The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semifinal NFL playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football lea ...

. He caught a pass from

Joe Burrow Joseph Lee Burrow (born December 10, 1996) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes football, O ...

for a two-point conversion, tying the game at 21 in a game the Bengals went on to win 27–24, securing the Bengals' first

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

appearance since

Super Bowl XXIII Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

. On February 22, 2022, Taylor re-signed with the Bengals. He opened the 2022 season as the Bengals' primary punt returner along with being the team's backup slot receiver to starter Tyler Boyd. On the season, he returned 33 punts for 340 total yards. Taylor re-signed with the Bengals on one-year contract on March 27, 2023. He was released during final roster cuts August 29, 2023.

Chicago Bears

Taylor signed with the

on August 31, 2023. He played in all 17 games for Chicago, recording two targets and no receptions while working primarily as a punt returner (in which he logged 8.2 yards per return).

San Francisco 49ers (second stint)

On April 16, 2024, Taylor signed a one-year contract to return to the

. He was released on August 27, and re-signed to the team's practice squad. Taylor signed a reserve/future contract with San Francisco on January 6, 2025. On June 3, the 49ers placed Taylor on injured reserve, ruling him him out for the season.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

San Francisco 49ers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Trent 1994 births Living people Players of American football from Shreveport, Louisiana American football wide receivers Evangel Christian Academy alumni Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football players San Francisco 49ers players Cincinnati Bengals players Chicago Bears players