Is Darrell Taylor good?

The Seahawks know Darrell Taylor can get to the QB, but can he get to the next step of his development? Seaside Joe 1914

Darrell Taylor has accumulated 21.5 sacks in his career, which is tied for the fourth-most in the 2020 draft class despite the Seahawks end missing his entire rookie season. And if Taylor had just two more sacks, he’d rank second in the class behind Alex Highsmith.

However, four years after the Seahawks traded a third round pick to move up for Taylor in the second round, many fans continue to have the same debate we’ve always had with this same player: Yeah, but is Darrell Taylor any good though?

Of course, Taylor is good in the sense that he’s in the NFL. There are many great athletes in college football and Taylor has outlasted amost everyone he played with and against at Tennessee. But is Taylor good enough for 2024 to not be his last season with the Seattle Seahawks? That’s the debate.

I can’t tell you if Darrell Taylor will be good enough to be re-signed by the Seahawks. I can tell you what evidence exists out there, one way or the other.

Darrell Taylor makes $3.1 million

Taylor is good enough to be paid $3.1 million by an NFL team. I told you earlier that Taylor is tied with Justin Madubuike for the fourth-most sacks in the 2020 class, and they both have five more career sacks than second overall pick Chase Young. The Saints gave Young $13 million for his 16.5 career sacks.

We know that edge rushers are not defined by sacks alone, or close to it, but I can say for sure that Chase Young isn’t worth $13 million. In my view, Taylor is no worse than on the same tier as Young, so he’s a bargain for $3.1 million.

Because he missed his rookie season, Taylor was a restricted free agent instead of an unrestricted free agent, which is what allowed Seattle to keep him for $3 million. That’s why he’s a bargain for right now, why not see if the new coaching staff can make him more valuable for that price? He’s better than any edge rusher you’re going to get in free agency with that price.

The “good enough” question is only for Taylor’s future with the Seahawks because teams generally don’t re-sign players who didn’t reach their potential as draft picks. It seems to me that players usually get overvalued by other teams hoping that a change of scenery and coaching will unlock the next gear. So if Taylor isn’t a new, upgraded player in 2024, I don’t see him staying in Seattle.

Darrell Taylor is criticized for being one-dimensional

Saints defensive end Cam Jordan had one of my favorite tweets, not because I have anything against any of these players, only due to its transparent nature. This feels like how NFL players actually talk shit about other players in private.

Jordan is basically saying that Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons, and T.J. Watt are overrated in this ranking by ESPN because they don’t play run defense. Instead, Jordan prefers players who can play all four downs like himself, Brandon Graham, Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead, and Demarcus Lawrence. Obviously the reason that Graham, Armstead, Lawrence, and Jordan aren’t more publicized is due to sack totals.

I mean, Cam Jordan has had 117 sacks in his career, he has a lot, but edge rushers tend to get noticed either when they’re drafted in the top-three and/or having any monster sack seasons with 17+. What players like Graham and Jordan lack in elevated sack numbers, they make up for in longevity and the value that keeps them with the same organization for a decade+.

Unfortunately, Taylor will not be accused of being an underrated four-down player.

Taylor will have a harder time generating higher sack totals because he doesn’t see the field often enough. Taylor has played in 45% of the snaps consistently throughout his career and even then it’s a little underwhelming that he only had 5.5 sacks last season while almost exclusively playing in pass rush situations. If teams are going to run the ball directly at Taylor and get the yards that they want, Mike Macdonald can’t give him additional snaps.

Run defense has been a weakness for Taylor since the draft and didn’t appear to be stronger in 2023.

Taylor’ biggest weakness is his run defense, especially against counters and misdirection where his aggressive nature can get the best of him. He seems to get sucked up into blocks when his initial move isn't towards the football and he was buried on a few plays on film as a result.

Taylor is 27, so he’s probably set in his ways and won’t change much as a football player from here on out. That might not even be a good idea because what Taylor is now as a rotational edge rusher is still valuable enough to continue getting contracts in the NFL. However, that type of player is also readily available every offseason so is Darrell Taylor “good” in the sense that losing him will require a Fugitive-esque search to replace him?

The pass rushing isn’t great, but it is serviceable. The run defense doesn’t appear to be good. Yet the Seahawks did want to keep Taylor for $3.1 million so they didn’t give up either.

Is Darrell Taylor good enough to keep?

Believe it or not, there is a scenario in which Taylor gets 15 sacks in Macdonald’s first season as defensive coordinator but still gets shipped out of Seattle as soon as John Schneider can legally make a trade.

We saw how little the Ravens valued edge rushers Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy despite having really good seasons with Macdonald in 2023, so I wouldn’t blame the Seahawks for being skeptical if Taylor has 15 sacks this season. That would be exciting—it is the good emotions that we feel during a sack that make them so valuable to player agents as bargaining chips—but I can’t imagine there being much of a riot if the Seahawks were able to trade Taylor like they did Frank Clark.

This is of course a far-off scenario, Taylor has never played like a franchise tag player before, and may only bring back a second round pick since that’s all the Panthers got for Brian Burns. (Plus a fifth.) I only bring it up because I think a) there’s a world in which Taylor has a lot of sacks, b) it doesn’t mean that the Seahawks will think he’s good enough to pay the amount of money that he’ll want if that happens.

Here’s what’s more likely to happen

Taylor has a typical Taylor season, plays 45% of the snaps and has about 7.5 sacks and doesn’t set the edge.

Plenty of teams liked him in the draft and he hasn’t been injured since returning from his initial injury, so why shouldn’t he get at least a couple of offers on the free agent market? The Seahawks have recently drafted Boye Mafe and Derick Hall, they have a new defensive coaching staff, why shouldn’t we expect Seattle to probably move on after this season?

Unless Macdonald and his coaching staff find a new Darrell Taylor, something we’d all welcome, I think that Taylor is good. Maybe not good enough.