Taron Vincent has moved up the NFL rookie ladder.
After he went undrafted in 2023, Vincent received a rookie minicamp invite from the Buffalo Bills on May 1. Exactly two weeks later, the former Ohio State defensive tackle has signed a contract with the Los Angeles Rams, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Monday.
Rams are signing former Ohio State free-agent defensive lineman Taron Vincent, the son of NFL executive Troy Vincent.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 15, 2023
Vincent's contract guarantees him a spot on the Rams' 90-man roster. However, he will need to prove himself once more to retain his position in Los Angeles once teams across the league cut their rosters down to 53 ahead of the 2023 season.
A native of Baltimore and the son of Troy Vincent, a five-time NFL Pro Bowler, Taron Vincent brings five years of college experience with him to the City of Angels. At Ohio State, he recorded 58 total tackles, eight tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks as a former five-star prospect and top-20 overall recruit from IMG Academy in the class of 2018. His best season came in 2022 when he established himself as a consistent 3-tech that ate up blockers and allowed Tommy Eichenebrg and Steele Chambers to cause frequent disruption in opposing teams' backfields.
However, while Vincent's final year in the scarlet and gray was his best, his career at Ohio State was far from linear.
Vincent suffered the first of several injury-related setbacks during his Buckeye tenure in the leadup to 2019 when a torn labrum forced Vincent out for the entire season. Vincent was again hampered during the COVID-shortened 2020 season due to a knee injury. Still, he earned his biggest role to date on a per-game basis in seven appearances as the Buckeyes made a run to the College Football Playoff title game.
In 2021, Vincent split reps at 3-tech with Haskell Garrett and turned in a productive 23 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a half sack before the end of the year and earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors. That momentum carried over into Vincent’s final season with the Buckeyes, in which he became a regular starter in Larry Johnson's position room, finishing with a career-high 25 total tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss, a half sack and a fumble recovery. Vincent appeared in every game for the Buckeyes in 2022 for the first time in his career.
Now firmly established on an initial NFL roster, Vincent will look to keep the ball rolling for the Rams, who finished the 2022 season with a 5-12 record after winning a Super Bowl against the Cincinnati Bengals the year prior.
