Seahawks trade up to 48, take Tennessee DE Darrell Taylor

The Seahawks have a new pass rusher.

After trading up in the second round, Seattle nabbed Darrell Taylor, a defensive end out of Tennessee with the 48th overall pick.

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In order to trade up to 48 to snag Taylor, the Seahawks traded the 59th pick and their lone third-round pick (101) to the New York Jets, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Seattle still has the 64th overall pick in the second round.

Taylor had 8 sacks his junior year and 8.5 sacks during his senior year, and he finished with 26.5 career tackles for loss during his four years as a Volunteer. He was Pro Football Focus’ top-graded edge rusher in SEC play in 2019.

NFL QB's BEWARE ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/UZJ6WIzE7n

— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) April 25, 2020

He is tall and lean at 6 foot 4, 267 pounds with has 33-inch arms. According to NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein, Taylor is a physical specimen who is “chiseled out of granite” and that his “play strength is a big plus.”

On 710 ESPN Seattle’s draft show, Danny O’Neil said the pick reminds him of former Seahawks defensive end Chris Clemons, who was built similarly.

“Clemons was a guy that regularly got double-digit sack totals for Seattle,” O’Neil said. “…The scouting reports that I’ve read have (Taylor) being more physical as opposed to that fast-twitch edge rusher, so this could be someone that’s kind of in the same line of a guy that can kind of play inside as well.”

Dave Wyman, a former NFL linebacker, likes the pick, especially as it’s at a position of need.

“To me, this is really exciting. Maybe that’s what addresses, in the Seahawks’ minds, the defensive end position and the pass rush,” Wyman said.

The Seahawks under general manager John Schneider rarely trade up early in the draft, or the draft at all. When they have though, it usually works out. Seattle traded up for DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Jarran Reed in the first three rounds of their respective drafts.

.@Seahawks players acquired when trading up since 2010: @KamChancellor , Jesse Williams, @TDLockett12, @1j_reed, Quinton Jefferson, Kenny Lawler, @mdcksn , @ljcollier91, 2020 second-round pick (#64), @dkm14, Cody Barton, @christmas_93, @johnursua5. #SeahawksDraft

— Seahawks PR (@seahawksPR) April 25, 2020

“This very much seems like Seattle hunting to get up and that they wanted this opportunity because they’re giving up a third-round pick, which is something John doesn’t disregard. He values those,” O’Neil said.

Bob Stelton likes that Seattle was in attack mode to draft Taylor.

“I like that they had a conviction about a guy that directly addresses the biggest need going into the offseason, which was pass rush,” Stelton said.

Taylor joins Benson Mayowa and Bruce Irvin as new pass rushers for the Seahawks for 2020.

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