The San Francisco 49ers made wide receiver Trent Taylor a fifth-round draft pick in 2017. He had an impressive rookie campaign considering when he was selected, registering 43 catches for 430 yards with two touchdowns through 15 games and one start. Big things were expected out of Taylor during his second NFL season.
Then a back injury complicated things.
Taylor missed a significant portion of the 49ers' offseason program last year when he realized after organized team activities that his back wasn't feeling right. He decided to have a procedure to shave down bone spurs in his lower back. Taylor hoped to be ready for the 2018 season and improve upon his rookie year.
Taylor worked his way back onto the practice field during training camp, but it was a slow process. He felt healthy but was playing catch up after missing a lot of time.
"After the procedure, it was a lot of relaxing, taking it slow," Taylor said last August. "So getting back into it. You've got to get used to making those cuts again."
Taylor was active for 14 games but managed to haul in just 26 catches for 215 yards with a touchdown. He was slowed for much of the season by the back injury. It wasn't quite the sophomore season Taylor or fans were hoping for.
In a few months, the third-year receiver will be a year removed from his surgery, and he hopes the time to fully heal will set things up for a big upcoming season. Taylor is in San Jose training before he reunites with his teammates in Santa Clara in April.
"I feel like my back is back to normal now," Taylor recently told NBC Sports Bay Area. "I just knew that I needed a little more time than I was able to get throughout the season. That's why I've been really looking forward to this offseason.
"(I'm) getting back to building my body up the right way. I'm feeling great right now. We're going to continue working on that and building myself up so I can be ready to have a great season [in 2019]."
The 49ers offense ranked No. 15 in passing yards and No. 21 in scoring. No wide receiver on the team surpassed 500 receiving yards or five receiving touchdowns in 2018.