Darrell Taylor
refer to caption
Taylor with the Seattle Seahawks in 2021
No. 52 – Seattle Seahawks
Position:Linebacker
Personal information
Born: (1997-03-24) March 24, 1997 (age 26)
Hopewell, Virginia, U.S.
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:267 lb (121 kg)
Career information
High school:Hopewell
(Hopewell, Virginia)
College:Tennessee (2015–2019)
NFL draft:2020 / Round: 2 / Pick: 48
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career NFL statistics as of 2023
Total tackles:91
Sacks:21.5
Forced fumbles:5
Fumble recoveries:1
Pass deflections:3
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Darrell Lamond Taylor (born March 24, 1997) is an American football linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Tennessee.

Early years

Taylor grew up in Hopewell, Virginia and attended Hopewell High School, where he played football.[1] Rated a four-star recruit, Taylor committed to play college football at the University of Tennessee over offers from Florida and Virginia Tech.[2]

College career

Taylor played at the University of Tennessee from 2015–2019 under coaches Butch Jones and Jeremy Pruitt.[3][4] Taylor redshirted his true freshman season.[5] As a redshirt freshman, he made nine tackles (one for loss) in eight games played.[6] Taylor missed two games of his redshirt sophomore year due to a suspension for an altercation with a teammate.[7][8] He finished the season with 27 tackles, four tackles for loss, three sacks and two forced fumbles.[9] As a redshirt junior, Taylor led the team with eight sacks and 11 tackles for loss with 36 total tackles.[10]

Taylor entered his redshirt senior year on the Chuck Bednarik Award watchlist.[11] Taylor finished the season tied for second in the Southeastern Conference with 8.5 sacks and led the Volunteers with 10 tackles for loss along with 46 total tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and four passes defended.[12] Taylor finished his collegiate career with 118 tackles, 26.5 tackles for loss, and 19.5 sacks with six forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and seven passes defended in 38 games.[13]

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span Wonderlic
6 ft 3+5⁄8 in
(1.92 m) 		267 lb
(121 kg) 		33 in
(0.84 m) 		9+3⁄4 in
(0.25 m)		 12
All values from NFL Combine[14]

Taylor was invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, but did not participate in any drills due to an offseason surgery.[15] Taylor was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round with the 48th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.[16] He was placed on the active/non-football injury list at the start of training camp on August 3, 2020.[17] He was moved to the reserve/non-football injury list at the start of the regular season on September 5, 2020.[18] He returned to practice on January 5, 2021, but the team did not activate him before the end of the season.[19]

On October 17, 2021, in a Sunday Night Football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Taylor suffered what appeared to be a serious neck/head injury, and left the field injured on a stretcher under medical care.[20] After the game, the Seahawks confirmed that Taylor had feeling in all of his extremities and that he was expected to fly back to Seattle with the rest of his team.[21] He appeared in 16 games, of which he started five, as a rookie. He finished with 6.5 sacks, 37 total tackles (28 solo), one pass defensed, and one forced fumble.[22]

In the 2022 season, Taylor appeared in 16 regular season games and started three. He had 9.5 sacks, 26 total tackles (22 solo), one pass defended, and four forced fumbles.[23] In the 2023 season, Taylor appeared in all 17 regular season games and started five. He had 5.5 sacks, 28 total tackles (17 solo), and one pass defended.[24]

References

  1. ^ Milby, Jeff (July 28, 2020). "Hopewell alum Taylor signs $6.7 million deal with Seahawks". The Progress Index. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  2. ^ Kolenich, Eric (September 26, 2014). "Hopewell's Darrell Taylor commits to Tennessee". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  3. ^ "Darrell Taylor College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  4. ^ "Tennessee Volunteers Coaches". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  5. ^ Moore, Lauren (August 2, 2017). "Darrell Taylor bringing passion, energy to Vols". The Daily Times. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  6. ^ Brown, Patrick (March 29, 2019). "Darrell Taylor 'determined' to deliver in increased role for Vols". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  7. ^ Megargee, Steve (October 12, 2017). "Tennessee suspends outside linebacker Darrell Taylor ahead of Gamecocks game". ABC4News.com. Associated Press. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  8. ^ Taylor, John (October 28, 2017). "Tennessee's Darrell Taylor returning from suspension for Kentucky game". CollegeFootballTalk. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  9. ^ Toppenmeyer, Blake (July 25, 2018). "Why Darrell Taylor matters to UT Vols defense". USA Today. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  10. ^ Megargee, Steve (August 21, 2019). "Tennessee pass rush relying heavily on Darrell Taylor". Yahoo Sports. Associated Press. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  11. ^ Lambert, Terry A. (July 15, 2019). "Jarrett Guarantano, Darrell Taylor added to 2019 award watchlists". RockyTopTalk.com. SB Nation. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  12. ^ Brown, Patrick (January 17, 2020). "Stat Pack: Where Vols finished in national and SEC stat rankings". 247Sports.com.
  13. ^ Lee, Nick (February 27, 2020). "Seahawks NFL Draft Profile: Darrell Taylor". SI.com. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  14. ^ "Darrell Taylor Combine Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  15. ^ Fann, Joe (April 24, 2020). "Seahawks 2nd round pick Darrell Taylor wants to be NFL's best rookie pass rusher in 2020". NBC Sports Northwest. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  16. ^ Fann, Joe (April 24, 2020). "Seahawks select Tennessee DE Darrell Taylor with 48th overall pick in 2020 NFL Draft". NBC Sports. Retrieved April 24, 2020.[permanent dead link]
  17. ^ Boyle, John (August 3, 2020). "Seahawks TE Will Dissly Passes Physical; RB Rashaad Penny Opens Camp On PUP List". Seahawks.com. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  18. ^ Boyle, John (September 5, 2020). "Seahawks Make Roster Moves To Establish Initial 53-Man Roster". Seahawks.com. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  19. ^ Loohuis, Patrick Olde (January 5, 2021). "Rookie DE Darrell Taylor returns to team practice from NFI list". USAToday.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  20. ^ Henderson, Brady (October 18, 2021). "Seahawks pass-rusher Taylor stretchered off field". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  21. ^ "Seahawks LB Darrell Taylor leaves on stretcher with injury". New York Post. Associated Press. October 18, 2021. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  22. ^ "Darrell Taylor 2021 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  23. ^ "Darrell Taylor 2022 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  24. ^ "Darrell Taylor 2023 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 16, 2024.

External links

Seattle Seahawks roster
Seattle Seahawks 2020 NFL Draft selections
Categories