Fueled by a lost rookie season— and his late mother — Darrell Taylor restarts for Seahawks
Darrell Taylor is changing.
For the Seahawks. And for his mom, missed for the last eight, painful years.
Taylor wore number 58 during his rookie season for Seattle last year, though it was lost to complications after he had a Titanium rod put in his leg to fix a stress fracture. That was in January 2020. It didn’t heal until after he got a stem-cell injection in Dallas in November. Taylor didn’t begin practicing with his new team until the week of their first playoff game in early January.
The Seahawks lost to the Rams in that wild-card playoff game. That was the end of their season that Taylor never began.
Friday, Taylor was number 52 for Seattle. He was the most excited of the 31 players on the field for the start of the team’s rookie minicamp.
He was one of the only ones who knew the coaches, including defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr., who watched him closely all practice. He was one of the only ones who knew the bag drill assistants were showing the rest of the rookies. That’s the rousing, enthusiasm drill the Seahawks use to begin every practice.
“Man, it was..I can’t even explain it,” he said. “I honestly didn’t want to get off the field.”
He used three “verys” to describe how happy he is to be back practicing, showing why the Seahawks drafted him in the second round out of Tennessee in April 2020.
Why is he wearing number 52 this year instead of 58?
“My mom wore 25 when she was in high school. She was really good in basketball,” Taylor said. “She was supposed to be an All-American, and all that stuff. But she was scared to get on a plane.
“So I wear 52 to represent her.”
Peggy Tyler was a basketball and track star at Hopewell (Virginia) High School, Class of 1990. She died suddenly on May 2, 2014, in her and Taylor’s home town of Hopewell.
Her son was a teenager when she died.
“I was really young when it happened. I was 16, a sophomore in high school,” Taylor said.
“Fifty eight? I just felt like last year was kind of a lot, and I didn’t want to wear 58 anymore, because I didn’t want it to be a representation of last year.
“So, I thought 52 would be the perfect number to go with, to represent my Mom.”
A switch to a position of need
Taylor is also trying a new position.
A new-old one, actually.
Since K.J. Wright remains unsigned—though he could sign with the team this spring or summer, if the 31-year-old linebacker’s veteran market remains cool—the Seahawks are looking at what life without Wright could look like.
It looks like a Frank Clark-like physique. And a Bruce Irvin-like role.
In 2021, the Seahawks are moving Taylor to strongside linebacker, where Wright played last season. The team drafted Taylor last year in the second round as an edge-rushing defensive end. That was to help 2020’s most pressing need on defense: the pass rush.
Pete Carroll has seen the future beyond Wright, Seattle’s longest-tenured player, who has been with the team almost as long as Carroll has coached it.
That future could be Taylor.
“This is hugely important for him. His attitude, his want-to, is so good right now,” Carroll said after Taylor’s first practice day in his new job Friday.
“He’s in a great space. It’s good to get him out there, get some reps in.
“He’s got some catching up to do.”
Though not as much as may meet the eye.
Taylor said he played strongside linebacker a lot at the University of Tennessee, including in 2019 when he played the entire season from August through his team’s bowl game in winter with a stress fracture in his lower leg. That was in a 3-4 scheme.
Carroll and Seattle use a 4-3. Taylor wasn’t playing next to an All-Pro at Tennessee either, as he will try to this year with Seahawks captain Bobby Wagner.
Where he could fit
The weakside linebacker was Wright’s spot from late in 2011 until September, when Irvin tore ligaments in his knee. Wright replaced Irvin at strongside linebacker, and speedy 2020 first-round pick Jordyn Brooks moved into the weakside role. Brooks is preparing to start the 2021 season opener Sept. 12 at Indianapolis at weakside linebacker.
Irvin, like Wright, remains unsigned. At age 33, Irvin’s career is in doubt; he needed a second knee surgery this winter.
Carroll’s idea is to have Taylor play a role similar to Irvin’s after the Seahawks drafted the supposed edge rusher in 2012: a strongside linebacker on early, run downs, then an edge rusher with his hand on the ground as a defensive end on passing downs, when the team goes to nickel with five defensive backs.
That would put Taylor in a spot of need for Seattle, since Wright is unsigned and outside linebacker is one of the team’s thinnest positions. And it would place Taylor among Carlos Dunlap and Benson Mayowa as a weakside, “Leo” end option. During the Seahawks’ mid-decade Super Bowl years, Carroll’s best defenses relied on a deep rotation of ends who moved up and down the defensive line depending on down and distance.
Seattle would love to have Dunlap, Mayowa, offseason-arrival Kerry Hyder, 2019 first-round pick L.J. Collier, Alton Robinson and Rasheem Green as their deep rotation of pass rushers this year.
“The ‘Sam’ position is great. I like the transition,” Taylor said. “I’m still going to be playing ‘Leo,’ as well. I’m trying to be a versatile player. The ‘Sam’ position requires a little bit more dropping (into pass coverage), but we’re trying to make the ‘Sam’ a dominant player.
“Just trying to help this defense be more dominant every year we can get out on the field.”
Finally, Taylor is back out on it with them.
Carroll said it “may be wishful thinking” on his part, but he and his team’s medical staff believe Taylor’s leg problems are behind him.
Taylor doesn’t phrase it that way.
He’s the one with a Titanium rod still in his leg.
“I don’t think that leg will ever be behind me. It will always be a part of me, just because I had surgery on my leg,” he said.
“I’m just looking forward. A fresh start, for sure. It’s going to fuel me. I feel like my injury is going to fuel me. Not being able to be on the field last year for 16 games with my teammates, it’s going to fuel me.
“It’s going to fuel me to get out there with them, so they can see how I play and how I conduct myself as a professional.”
This story was originally published May 14, 2021 at 4:45 PM.
