Breaking down all of Darrell Taylor’s sacks from the 2022 season

Third-year pass rusher Darrell Taylor had a breakout season for the Seattle Seahawks last season. The former Tennessee Volunteer had 9.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, eight tackles for loss and 13 QB hits. Despite playing 58 fewer snaps and starting two fewer games than his de facto rookie season, Taylor was able to increase his sack total by three. Now an uptick of that nature is impressive, but it is important to evaluate those sacks. Doing so will allow us to see how likely it is that he will regress, replicate his 2022 success or continue to get better.

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Sack 1

The first sack of Taylor’s 2022 season is one that we can chalk up to some questionable offensive line play. Taylor, who is lined up at the bottom of the screen as a wide nine tec is chipped by No. 46 on the Falcons, Parker Hesse. The chip forces him even further wide which is something that actually works to his advantage as it allows him to beat the right tackle, Kaleb McGary to the spot by dipping underneath his shove. He then steps up with Mariota and intelligently makes a play on the football for the strip sack.

Sack 2

Taylor, who is lined up on the defense’s left in a two-point stance, blows right by the Arizona Cardinals right tackle Kelvin Beachum with a straight speed move. Beachum is a bit slow out of his stance and in his shuffle, which gives an extremely athletic edge in Taylor the immediate upper hand. Beachum is able to get his hands on Taylor, but it does nothing in terms of affecting Taylor’s ability to get to the spot resulting in his second strip sack of the season.

Sack 3

Tyalor looks like he is lined up in a two-point stance on the defense’s left and goes with a pure speed move. However, I would actually classify this as a good job by the Los Angeles Chargers right tackle, Trey Pipkins lll. Pipkins lll is able to force Taylor 10 yards up field which should be enough to force him past the pocket. But Herbert dropped about five yards out of a shotgun, which gave Taylor the opportunity to pick up his third sack of the season, which was also his third strip sack.

Sack 4

Taylor is once again in a two-point stance but is lined up on the defense’s right side this time. This is a very well-designed blitz as Shelby Harris, who is lined up to the inside of Taylor, rushes straight up field. Rather than handing off Harris to the left tackle, the Rams left guard continues with Harris up field. This allows Taylor to come off of the chip and shoot inside on the big loop for the easy sack.

Sack 5

Taylor is lined up at the top of the screen on the defense’s left in a four-point stance, meaning he has both of his hands in the dirt at the time of the snap. He has a good get off from the snap and rushes around Taylor Moton, hitting him with what looks like a combination of a speed move and swipe to his up-field arm. Moton does a good job of forcing Taylor further up the field, similar to the Chargers sack from earlier, but Taylor is a beneficiary of both his effort and a deep drop from quarterback Sam Darnold for the sack.

Sack 6

(Skip to 5:29 in the video)

This is a pure effort sack by Taylor that is largely created by the blitzing Cody Barton. Taylor is at the bottom of the screen on the defense’s left in a two-point stance going against Kansas City Chief right tackle Andrew Wylie. Taylor tries to attack him with a combination of a dip and rip move but Wylie does a good job of securing Taylor’s inside arm and preventing him from getting over the top of him. He forces him up field but Taylor does not give up on the play. He works down to the line of scrimmage and is able to bring Patrick Mahomes down for his sixth sack of the season.

Sack 7

This is a nice subtle move by Taylor, who is on the defense’s right in a two-point stance, against Jets left tackle and ex-Seahawk Duane Brown. Right before the expected contact point between the two he slows down, shows a jab step and then once Brown commits inside, Taylor rushes up field and brings down White on the effort strip sack.

Sack 7.5

Taylor, lined up on the defense’s left this time, timed the snap count perfectly giving him an immediate advantage against the Jets right tackle (and another former Seahawk) George Fant. He blows right by Fant who is barely able to get a hand on him for the easy sack.

Plays such as this one is why I hate half sacks in most situations. Taylor was going to bring White down for a sack but because Quinton Jefferson comes in late on the play, he takes half a sack away from Taylor.

Sack 8.5

They all count. Taylor, who is lined up on the defense’s left, picks up an absolute gift on the final play of the game for his second to last sack of the season. He is chipped once he rushes up field and Fant does a good job on him, but once White leaves the pocket, Taylor disengages and chases down the QB from behind. He shows off some of his high-end athleticism by jumping before the sack and pulling White down as he comes down.

Sack 9.5

Taylor’s final sack of the year is another effort sack from the second-year pro. Lined up on the defenses right in a wide nine, he takes on the chip from Tyler Higbee, and then “beats” Ty Nsekhe who puts an impressively little amount of effort in on the play for arguably his easiest sack of the season.

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Conclusion

All sacks count, but it is concerning to me that so many of Taylor’s sacks in 2022 came from effort or on strip sacks from over-rushing the quarterback. History tells us that production from those means is not exactly sustainable on a year-to-year basis. That is not to say that Taylor is in for a bad season or anything like that, but I do think Seahawks fans should temper their expectations a bit with him for this upcoming season.