This season will mark a significant changing of the guard at safety for Brent Pry’s defense as both perennial star Marcus Allen and reliable Troy Apke are moving on after graduation. Right now, one of those two spots is Garrett Taylor’s to lose.

In a position group with lots of young talent and excitement, Taylor has shown himself as the favorite to link up with Nick Scott at the top of the Penn State defense, Penn State head coach James Franklin confirmed last week.

“I think Garrett has kind of separated himself from the pack,” Franklin said. “If we were playing Saturday, [he and Nick Scott would] probably be our two starters.”

As a regular on Penn State’s dean’s list and an Academic All-Big Ten honoree in 2016, Taylor brings a whole lot to like to the table. The safety hails from Richmond, VA, where he was a four-star recruit and the second-best player in the state, according to 247 Sports.

So far in his career, as a redshirt junior, Taylor has seen some time on the field with the special teams, but perhaps not as much as he would have liked. He’s been a regular coverage man on punts and kicks, but now seems to be shirking off any struggles he’s had and making a big step forward.

Ayron Monroe is out with an injury, but the competition behind Taylor will continue to be pretty heated throughout the spring. Lamont Wade made the switch over to safety for spring practices, and he’s joined by some talented youngsters like Isaiah Humphries and Jonathan Sutherland. Franklin says he doubts any decision will be made until camp, but with all of the talent behind him, Taylor will have to stay locked in throughout the offseason.

“[Taylor’s] gotten more confident, he’s gotten stronger, he’s gotten more explosive, he’s gotten faster, and he’s a veteran guy,” Franklin said. “He’s a very mature guy. He’s approached this the right way since he stepped on campus.”

Franklin likened Taylor’s approach to that of both Malik Golden and Troy Apke, who waited for their turns to make a splash on defense, but showed tremendous capabilities when their respective times came. Redshirt junior cornerback John Reid is just as excited about Taylor’s progress.

“Especially this spring, he’s been making a lot of plays,” said Reid, who’s coming off of a long battle against a serious knee injury. “He’s leading the team in interceptions right now and he’s getting off the hash really well.”

Reid said he always believed Taylor had a great drive on the ball, and that this spring, Taylor is certainly showing that to his teammates and coaches. A lot of that could be given Taylor’s rising comfort level in the program and at his position, but he probably deserves this recognition.

“The one thing about G.T. is that he always works hard,” Reid said. “He always competes, especially when we do workouts in the summer, when we go to the hills. Me and him are always going at it.”

Taylor never dropped his head despite his somewhat slow development through the program and has always kept a hardworking mentality. His improvements are really paying off, and now he may just be counted on as a leader of the Penn State secondary.