Seattle Seahawks: Predicting stats for every 2020 rookie
By Samuel Teets
Round 2: Darrell Taylor, EDGE (No. 48)
A year after expending a first-round pick on L.J. Collier, Seattle used their second-round pick on Darrell Taylor. The defensive end from Tennessee accumulated 82 tackles, 21 tackles for loss and 16.5 sacks during his final two seasons with the Volunteers.
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Ordinarily, a player drafted as high as Taylor would see significant playing time as a rookie. However, recent defensive ends Seattle drafted didn’t make an immediate impact. Collier is the perfect example. Despite using the 29th overall pick on the TCU product, Seattle only put Collier on the field for 14 percent of the team’s defensive snaps last season.
Rasheem Green is another example of the Seahawks not utilizing rookie defensive ends. Seattle used a third-round pick on Green in 2018, but he only played 20 percent of the team’s defensive snaps as a rookie before jumping to 51 precent this past season.
Taylor also faces several other disadvantages in Seattle. First, the team’s pass rush only produced 28 sacks last season, which tied for the second-fewest in the league. Even with Bruce Irvin returning, the team lacks a premier pass rusher who can create opportunities for other defenders.
Second, the Seahawks do not have a good track record when it comes to drafting defensive ends under the current regime. Frank Clark, the most successful defensive end drafted by Pete Carroll and John Schneider, battled his way out of Seattle last offseason. Irvin is the second-most productive defensive end taken by the current front office, and, in their first run together, the team didn’t consider Irvin good enough to keep around for more than four seasons.
Facing an uphill climb as a rookie in an expanding competition for a starting defensive end job in Seattle, it’s unlikely Taylor leaves much of a mark as a rookie.
Projected 2020 stats: Two starts, 16 tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks