The black ink was fresh and beaded with sweat on the left side of right tackle Jawaan Taylor’s thick, 20-inch neck.
A tattoo of a five-pointed crown symbolized the aspirations of a hard-working 21-year-old hoping to become NFL royalty.
“Just a young king, just trying to make it,” the former Gator explained during UF’s Pro Day. “That’s all.”
It is more than anyone could have imagined when Taylor tipped the scale at 384 pounds as a sluggish, out-of-shape junior at Cocoa High.
But Thursday night in Nashville, Taylor is expected to be crowned a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.