Why isn’t Tennessee Edge Darrell Taylor a higher-rated NFL draft prospect?
One SEC pass rusher is 6-foot-4, 267 pounds and had 8 or more sacks each of the past two seasons while avoiding major injury.
The other SEC pass rusher is 6-foot-3, 254 pounds and had a combined 9.5 sacks in three seasons, one of which was cut short due to a serious injury.
And yet, Tennessee’s Darrell Taylor is widely regarded as more of a Round 2 or Round 3 player, while LSU’s K’Lavon Chaisson is projected to be drafted in Round 1.
Contextualizing Darrell Taylor’s Career College Sacks At Tennessee – #Steelers https://t.co/IzHtNp35Yf
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) March 9, 2020
Why the discrepancy?
Eric Edholm, NFL draft analyst for Yahoo Sports, explains:
“Taylor’s most alluring pass-rush trait is his ability to carve the edge with great balance and burst. The redshirt senior also flashes an effective long-arm rush move — a la Khalil Mack — with power and leverage, and he has shown active hands (eight career forced fumbles) when attacking QBs. Watching Taylor get physical with the SEC’s brawnier right tackles is enjoyable and promising for his NFL eval.”
| Tack | Tack | Tack | Tack | Tack | Def | Fumb | Fumb | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Class | G | Solo | Ast | Tot | Loss | Sk | PD | FR | FF |
| *2015 | Tennessee | FR | |||||||||
| *2016 | Tennessee | FR | 5 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | Tennessee | SO | 9 | 14 | 13 | 27 | 4.5 | 3.0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 2018 | Tennessee | JR | 11 | 27 | 9 | 36 | 11.0 | 8.0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| *2019 | Tennessee | SR | 13 | 28 | 18 | 46 | 10.0 | 8.5 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Career | Tennessee | 75 | 43 | 118 | 26.5 | 19.5 | 7 | 4 | 6 |
Edholm also points to character concerns.
“Taylor is a boom-bust prospect with a high ceiling, but he needs to realize that the details, including film study and practice habits, could be the difference between that happening,” Edholm writes.
Taylor is currently ranked as the No. 82 overall prospect in the latest Fanspeak-Steve big board.
https://twitter.com/sports180/status/1228339187063107585
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