3 Seahawks that need to exceed expectations for 2022 to be a success

Darrell Taylor

Taylor is entering what will basically be his second season. As far as his contract goes, he will be going into year three of his rookie four-year deal. Taylor was very good early in the first half of 2021 but then tapered off. This could be former defensive coordinator Ken Norton, Jr.’s scheme or that Taylor simply ran out of gas in what was basically his rookie season.

Taylor finished with 6.5 sacks but had 4 in the first five games. He had 13 quarterback hits but 8 came in the first half of the year.

The Seahawks have made a clear decision this offseason to get younger. The team released Carlos Dunlap and Benson Mayowa. Dunlap led the team in sacks in 2021 with 8.5 with a bunch of those coming at the end of the year when Dunlap played more at edge than dropping into coverage. Taylor is a big part of that decision.

But for the Seahawks to be really good defensively Taylor needs to exceed any expectation one might have of him having just 7 or 8 sacks. Taylor needs to get to 10. He needs to help replace a lot of Dunlap’s production.

The good thing with Taylor in 2022 is that he should have a defensive coaching staff that knows his strengths and gets better use out of them than Norton, Jr. did. Taylor will likely be put in situations more like Von Miller was in Denver. I am not saying Taylor will be Miller but he could be close.