Darrell Taylor off to hot start with three sacks in four games

When Darrell Taylor brought down Trey Lance in the fourth quarter of the Seattle Seahawks’ victory over the San Francisco 49ers, he notched his third sack of the season. In addition to tallying another takedown, he added a pressure and just generally looked like the team’s most exciting pass rusher once again. After a rookie season that saw him recovering from offseason surgery and unable to get on the field, he was easily the defensive line’s biggest unknown going into 2021. And he has responded by being the team’s most productive and most electrifying quarterback chaser to start the season.

Not only does Taylor demonstrate good power and tenacity on this play, he also shows some excellent awareness after his initial rush doesn’t get a ton of separation from eight time pro bowl tackle Trent Williams. He disengages and takes down Trey Lance before he can escape the backfield on an afternoon where Seattle could only manage to bring the QB to the turf two times, in total.

And this is hardly his first big play of the season. Prior to today’s game, he had received a pass rush grade of 91.1 on 43 pass rush snaps per PFF. In addition to this, he is easily on pace to break Bruce Irvin’s rookie team record of 8 even if he doesn’t keep up his current gaudy rate of .75 sacks per game, so I was especially relieved to see him return to the field after suffering an injury scare in the fourth. Without further adieu, here are Darrell Taylor’s other two takedowns so far this season.

Carson Wentz

Kirk Cousins