Seattle Seahawks: 2nd round pick Darrell Taylor starts season on injured list
Herb Nightengale
|
Once again, another Seattle Seahawks early draft pick starts the season as inactive due to injury. Is the team snakebit?
On cutdown day, the Seattle Seahawks placed 2020 second-round draft pick, Darrell Taylor, on the Non-Football Injury list. Taylor had surgery to put a titanium rod in his leg back in January for an injury he suffered last year at the University of Tennessee. Going on the NFI list means Taylor will miss the first half of the season.
As many 12s know, this isn’t the first time Coach Pete Carroll made such an announcement about a high draft choice, before the season. The Seattle Seahawks have done well in the middle of draft or later picks with players such as Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor (both fifth-round picks), and Chris Carson (seventh-round). Recently, the team has endured a rash of serious injuries to their higher round draft selections.
Here we go again
In 2017, the Seahawks drafted defensive end, Malik McDowell, in the second round, after trading out of the first round. McDowell hurt himself in an awful ATV accident before he stepped on the field. That incident was followed by a string of arrests. On November 19, 2019, he was sentenced to 11 months in prison. McDowell never played a down for the Seahawks or in the NFL. The Seahawks were counting on big things out of McDowell in the same way they are from Taylor.
Last year’s top draft L.J. Collier, another defensive lineman, suffered a high ankle sprain at the beginning of training camp. As a result, Collier missed all of training camp and the preseason. Fortunately, he was able to get back on the field. The former TCU star saw limited action last year but nowhere near what Pete Carroll was hoping for out of him. This year Collier is healthy and ready to go. He could be in the starting lineup or at least get significant playing time, as long as the injury bug doesn’t hit him again.
Three out of the last four years, the Seattle Seahawks haven’t done well with early draft picks, especially defensive linemen. This year the Seahawks did pick another defensive end later in the draft, Alton Robinson out of Syracuse (fifth-round). Robinson had a solid camp. He will get many of Darrell Taylor’s snaps to open the season. Hopefully, Taylor recovers quickly and challenges Robinson.
In conclusion, the Seattle Seahawks shouldn’t take another defensive line player early in the draft. If they do, keep an eye on him at all times.
Pete Carroll: still can't say for sure when top rookie pass rusher Darrell Taylor will begin practicing. Still on the non-football-injury list following surgery Jan. 30 that put a Titanium rod in his lower leg to fix a stress fracture. Keeps working on rehab #Seahawks
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) September 7, 2020
Do you think the Seattle Seahawks have lousy luck with early-round draft picks recently? Or do you think it’s something else? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.