Seahawks: Darrell Taylor and Alton Robinson are the future of the pass rush

The Seahawks have a bunch of veteran pass rushers but possibly the two most important edge rushers on the roster are relative newbies Darrell Taylor and Alton Robinson. Taylor and Robinson were both drafted in 2020 and Robinson played pretty well last year while Taylor missed the season due to injury.

But Robinson didn’t really get enough reps last year. The chances he got were really inconsistent given that playing just 29 percent of the defensive snaps he had 4 sacks (fifth on the team) and 5 tackles-for-loss (fifth among defensive linemen). Robinson needed to play more and it’s odd he didn’t.

But this preseason, both Robinson and Taylor have flashed speed and aggressiveness and should produce solid numbers in 2021. Both players will be part of a pass rush rotation, though, so their numbers might be lower in raw statistics though maybe not in productivity per snap.

Seahawks future pass rush looks good with Darrell Taylor and Alton Robinson

Starting in 2022 things could change, though. Seattle has a couple of guys aging at edge rusher. Carlos Dunlap was good for Seattle in 2020 after being traded for halfway through the year. Dunlap will be 33 years old entering next season. Benson Mayowa will be 31. Neither Dunlap nor Mayowa is old, of course, but Taylor will be just 25 years old to start 2022 and Robinson will be 24.

Against the Chargers in preseason game 3, Robinson and Taylor combined for 2.5 sacks. While Taylor didn’t get home against the Broncos, even against the starters, he flashed great speed. Taylor is still acclimating to the NFL since he missed his rookie year. Robinson, based on last year, has been even better than expected.

Taylor and Robinson play similar positions so while in 2021 their numbers might be diminished because of that by 2022 when some veterans are likely no longer with the team, Robinson and Taylor’s reps will be increased even more. This could mean Robinson more at defensive end and Taylor more as the linebacker/edge rusher hybrid he already is. This will allow both players to be on the field even more together.

By 2023, Robinson and Taylor, both entering year four, will be essential to the Seahawks success even more than they currently are. But both players have already shown enough to make the future of the Seahawks pass rush seem like a potentially lethal one. That is a great thing for 12s to look forward to.