After missing all of his rookie season due to an elongated recovery from leg surgery, defensive end Darrell Taylor was able to practice with the Seahawks' newest crop of rookies during the team's mini-camp on Friday.
Taylor, a second-round pick by the team last year, was unable to practice until the final weeks of the season due to ongoing complications from a surgery that put a steel rod into his leg to address stress fractures. However, Taylor was unable to recover from the procedure and heal sufficiently to return to the field.
"It was pretty hard last year not being on the field," Taylor said.
A stem cell injection in November finally gave him the relief he needed to get back to football.
"I didn't need another surgery. Just wasn't working. Tried a bunch of different things and came out with something positive that helped me and it helped me get on the field, as you can see, and it's going well," Taylor said.
Taylor's return to the field comes with a new role on his plate as well. The Seahawks are going to try using Taylor at their strong-side linebacker position in addition to his background as a edge rusher.
"He felt comfortable, did everything, so that's a really good sign," head coach Pete Carroll said. "He's an outside player for us. Rush outside, outside linebacker, both jobs he's taking a look at."
The strong-side linebacker, or SAM, spot was filled primarily by K.J. Wright last season after sliding over from his traditional weak-side linebacker spot. With the Seahawks seemingly ready ton transition from Wright to last year's first-round pick Jordyn Brooks at the weak-side spot, and Wright still a free agent, Taylor could be a big part of their plans to fill that spot this season.
Taylor said he played the SAM spot during his time at the University of Tennessee. It isn't a role that he's unfamiliar with.
"I played a lot of SAM linebacker at Tennessee in our 3-4 front," Taylor said. "It's not really new to me. Tennessee asked me to do a lot so the Seahawks asked me to do the same thing and I'm going to take the challenge. I'm ready."
Taylor said that the injury and that recovery will always be a part of him going forward, but he said it's not something he actively thinks about anymore when he is out on the field.
"Not at all. I don't think about my injury at all. Especially when I hit the field for the first time like, football, OK, here we go. Just time to lock in and time to get ready for the season," Taylor said.
Taylor also changed numbers this year from the No. 58 he had last season to the No. 52 he was wearing for practice on Friday. Taylor said there were a couple reasons for that. One, the No. 58 was a reminder of his lost season last year and the never-ending rehab that kept him out all year. The change to No. 52 was a nod to his mother, Peggy Tyler, who wore the No. 25 when she played basketball. His mother died of breast cancer when he was in high school at age 16.
"She was really good at basketball, supposed to be like All-American and all that stuff. I wear 52 to represent her," Taylor said. "I just kind of felt like last year, it was just like a lot. It was hard last year so I changed my number because I didn't want to wear 58 anymore because I didn't want it to be a representation of last year. I thought 52 would be the perfect number to go with to represent my mother."
While this is a "rookie" mini-camp, players that haven't accrued a season of service time can also take part despite some level of NFL experience. Taylor falls under that category for Seattle.
Notes:
-- The mini-camp roster is significantly reduced in numbers from most prior seasons. Seattle only has 31 players taking part in the mini-camp and all of them are signed and on the team's 90-man roster. Typically this mini-camp includes a number of undrafted free agents and veteran players on tryouts. However, the ongoing pandemic circumstances has made such tryouts more challenging under league rules.
-- The Seahawks signed second-round wide receiver D'Wayne Eskridge and sixth-round tackle Stone Forsythe to their rookie contracts on Friday ahead of their first practice. Both contracts will be four-year deals, per league rules. Fourth-round cornerback Tre Brown remains as the only unsigned draft choice.
-- "Veterans" able to take part in the rookie mini-camp at quarterback Danny Etling, tackle Tommy Champion, linebacker Nate Evans. wide receiver Aaron Fuller, defensive tackle Cedrick Lattimore, center Brad Lundblade, tight end Tyler Mabry, safety Josh Moon, defensive tackle Walter Palmore, wide receiver Cody Thompson, defensive end Marcus Webb, and safety LaDarius Wiley.
-- The undrafted free agent class announced by the team on Friday includes: S Aashari Crosswell (Arizona State), OT Jake Curhan (California), OT Greg Eiland (Mississippi State), RB B.J. Emmons (Florida Atlantic), DT Jarrod Hewitt (Virginia Tech), G Jared Hocker (Texas A&M), WR Cade Johnson (South Dakota State), RB Josh Johnson (Louisiana-Monroe), G Pier-Olivier Lestage (Montreal), CB Bryan Mills (North Carolina Central), LB Jon Rhattigan (Army), WR Tamorrion Terry (Florida State), WR Connor Weddington (Stanford).
Roster:
22
Brown, Tre
CB
5-10
185
9/24/1997
23
R
Oklahoma
Tulsa, Okla.
D4-'21
79
Champion, Tommy
T
6-5
320
3/4/1997
24
2
Mississippi State
Jackson, Miss.
FA-'20
39
Crosswell, Aashari
FS
6-0
208
8/8/2000
20
R
Arizona State
Watts, Calif.
FA-'21
74
Curhan, Jake
T
6-6
316
2/9/1998
23
R
California
Larkspur, Calif.
FA-'21
43
Donkor, Aaron
LB
6-1
240
3/21/1995
26
R
Arkansas State
Goettingen, Germany
FA-'21
75
Eiland, Greg
T
6-8
321
2/1/1998
23
R
Mississippi State
Philadelphia, Miss.
FA-'21
40
Emmons, B.J.
RB
5-11
215
7/3/1997
23
R
Florida Atlantic
Morganton, N.C.
FA-'21
1
Eskridge, D'Wayne
WR
5-9
190
3/23/1997
24
R
Western Michigan
Bluffton, Ind.
D2-'21
9
Etling, Danny
QB
6-3
220
7/22/1994
26
4
Louisiana State
Terre Haute, Ind.
W(Atl)-'20
58
Evans, Nate
LB
6-1
241
2/27/1998
23
2
Central Florida
Waggaman, La.
W(Jac)-'21
78
Forsythe, Stone
T
6-8
307
12/29/1997
23
R
Florida
Winter Garden, Fla.
D6-'21
17
Fuller, Aaron
WR
5-11
188
9/30/1997
23
2
Washington
McKinney, Texas
FA-'20
86
Guggemos, Nick
TE
6-5
253
12/17/1995
25
R
St. Thomas
Eden Prairie, Minn.
FA-'21
62
Hewitt, Jarrod
DT
6-1
290
11/3/1997
23
R
Virginia Tech
Venice, Fla.
FA-'21
63
Hocker, Jared
G
6-6
327
7/11/1998
22
R
Texas A&M
N. Richland Hills, Texas
FA-'21
88
Johnson, Cade
WR
5-10
184
4/10/1998
23
R
South Dakota State
Papillion, Neb.
FA-'21
34
Johnson, Josh
RB
5-9
209
12/26/1997
23
R
Louisiana-Monroe
Hurtsboro, Ala.
FA-'21
75
Lattimore, Cedrick
DT
6-3
300
2/6/1998
23
2
Iowa
Redford, Mich.
FA-'20
62
Lestage, Pier-Olivier
G
6-3
312
8/4/1997
23
R
Montreal
Saint Eustache, Quebec
FA-'21
64
Lundblade, Brad
C
6-3
295
9/21/1995
25
4
Oklahoma State
Argyle, Texas
FA-'20
85
Mabry, Tyler
TE
6-3
247
11/21/1996
24
2
Maryland
Ypsilanti, Mich.
FA-'20
30
Mills, Bryan
CB
6-1
174
4/3/1999
22
R
North Carolina Central
Palmdale, Calif.
FA-'21
37
Moon, Josh
SS
5-10
205
5/18/1997
23
1
Georgia Southern
Fairburn, Ga.
FA-'21
64
Palmore, Walter
DT
6-3
317
8/9/1996
24
2
Missouri
Columbus, Ga.
FA-'21
59
Rhattigan, Jon
LB
6-0
236
2/2/1999
22
R
Army
Naperville, Ill.
FA-'21
52
Taylor, Darrell
DE
6-4
267
3/24/1997
24
2
Tennessee
Hopewell, Va.
D2-'20
83
Terry, Tamorrion
WR
6-3
207
3/21/1998
23
R
Florida State
Ashburn, Ga.
FA-'21
11
Thompson, Cody
WR
6-2
205
1/11/1996
25
3
Toledo
Huron, Ohio
FA-'19
48
Webb, Marcus
DE
6-2
247
9/4/1997
23
1
Troy
Decatur, Ala.
FA-'21
87
Wedington, Connor
WR
6-0
189
5/28/1999
21
R
Stanford
Lake Tapps, Wash.
FA-'21
42
Wiley, LaDarius
SS
6-1
209
6/3/1996
24
1
Vanderbilt
Los Angeles, Calif.
FA-'21
Photo Credit: Seahawks defensive end Darrell Taylor (No. 52) takes part in practice drills during the team's rookie mini-camp practice at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center on May 14, 2021. (photo by Curtis Crabtree / Sports Radio 950 KJR)