Tennessee Volunteers edge rusher Darrell Taylor, Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and General Manager John Schneider all talked about the NFL Draft.
Lots of voices spoke about the Seattle Seahawks trading up to select former Tennessee football outside linebacker Darrell Taylor in the second round of the NFL Draft. Taylor, whose stock had been rising for weeks, was close to being a projected first-rounder, and according to sources, the Seahawks were “hellbent” on taking him.
Given Seattles desperate need for an edge rusher and Taylor’s ability to play outside linebacker or defensive end, the decision made sense. It didn’t matter that he had to miss the combine due to an injury that he played all of last year with.
According to his post-selection interview, which the Seattle Seahawks posted on their Periscope, Taylor said he was watching the NFL Draft in Virginia with his family. He also talked about what this means for him since he has a one-year-old son and his goals given his own background, which include his incarcerated father and his mother passing away when back in 2013.
DE Darrell Taylor speaks with the media during #SeahawksDraft. https://t.co/Rhcfi39GZF
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) April 25, 2020
From a football perspective, Taylor said he thinks he has an edge as a veteran in draft. The Hopewell, Va. native was with the Vols for five years, redshirting in 2015. He spent two years as a defensive end in Bob Shoop’s nickel-based 4-3 defense, and then the 6’4″ 267-pound edge rusher moved to outside linebacker in Jeremy Pruitt’s and Derrick Ansley’s 3-4 scheme.
As a result, experience and versatility both benefit Taylor, who had eight sacks and double-digit tackles for a loss in each of the past two years. However, he recognizes his weaknesses as well. Here’s the scouting report he gave for himself.
"“I think I’m really great in the pass rush. I have a really good long-arm stab and I can use speed or power moves, so I think I bring a lot to the table. I think I have power, I have speed. I think I need to get better at using my hands, being more technical with that. Being coached up by the guys in Seattle, I think they’ll help me do that.”"
When it comes to being coached up, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has confidence that developing Taylor will be no problem. According to an article by Joe Fann of NBC Sports via Yahoo, Carroll noted that he could start immediately and touted Taylor’s power, flexibility and speed.
Carroll noted that Taylor is also a personality fit, and that if he brought the “fight” in him that they saw, then he shouldn’t have any trouble learning what they want him to do. Here’s a bit about what Carroll said when elaborating on his physical gifts, which also include his size, in another interview that was posted to the Seahawks website.
"“He’s got speed to power moves. And there’s enough ability there for him to do some dropping the few times that we do that, when we mix our looks at all. We thought he was an absolute in-the-pocket guy, so it was an easy evaluation in that regard.”"
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Seattle did take another linebacker, Jordyn Brooks of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, in the first round of the NFL Draft. But they clearly wanted to load up there, and trading their other second-round pick along with a third-round pick to the New York Jets made that clear.
Seahawks GM John Schneider said in that same interview posted to the franchise’s website that Taylor was in consideration for the first round. He noted how impressive Taylor was when he visited the city just prior to everything shutting down due to coronavirus.
"“Our guys did a great job of working their tails off trying to keep getting up to try to acquire him, and it was pretty hot. We view him as one of the very, very top pass rushers in this (class).”"
Taylor said he wasn’t surprised he was taken by the Seahawks, noting that he spoke with them a lot before and after that visit. In that visit, he expressed positive vibes about the city, noting how green everything was.
Despite his success, Taylor added that his senior year could have been a lot better had it not been for the stress fracture and that he feels much better now that surgery repaired it. The surgery happened back on Jan. 30.