Cincinnati Football: Bearcats land former Arizona State kick return specialist DJ Taylor

Arizona State DJ Taylor celebrates kickoff return touchdown against Arizona Wildcats. Arizona Republic.
Arizona State DJ Taylor celebrates kickoff return touchdown against Arizona Wildcats. Arizona Republic.

Cincinnati first-year head coach Scott Satterfield landed a handful of transfers in recent days including former Arizona State junior defensive back and kick return specialist DJ Taylor.

After spending three seasons in Tempe, Taylor decided to enter the transfer portal in late December and announced his commitment to join the Bearcats on Monday afternoon.

Taylor became the third Sun Devils transfer to commit to Cincinnati this offseason alongside graduate student quarterback Emory Jones and freshman place kicker Carter Brown.

During his career at Arizona State, Taylor totaled 1,232 return yards and one touchdown on 66 attempts, highlighted by a 100-yard kick off return touchdown against Arizona in 2020.

Cincinnati Football: Bearcats land former Arizona State kick return specialist DJ Taylor

Stay tuned as Cincinnati continues to recruit the portal with recent commitments from Taylor along with Utah State edge rusher Daniel Grzesiak and Louisville wide receiver Dee Wiggins.

Other transfers that recently committed to the Bearcats include North Carolina Central offensive lineman Corey Bullock, North Carolina A&T wide receiver Sterling Berkhalter and more.

Despite missing out on a few targets, Cincinnati added several potential starters since Satterfield was hired last month and hope to add more soon after hosting multiple transfers last week.

Satterfield spoke to the media in a press conference yesterday and explained the Bearcats are expecting to announce more transfer additions this week so check back for the latest rumors!

Cincinnati Football: Arizona State freshman kicker Carter Brown transfers to Bearcats

The Bearcats added several transfers this week including former Arizona State freshman kicker Carter Brown, who connected on 11/14 field goals with a career-long 53-yard kick last year.

Brown started his freshman campaign with a perfect regular season debut against Northern Arizona, going 4/4 on extra points and 4/4 on field goal attempts in a 40-3 win.

Cincinnati was in the market for a transfer kicker after junior Ryan Coe departed for North Carolina last month and Brown is presumably set to take over the starting role next season.

In the aftermath of early signing day, the Bearcats new-look staff led by first-year coach Scott Satterfield will continue to focus on the portal after adding 13 transfers this offseason.