Taco Charlton is Taking Opportunity with the Chiefs as a Chance To Grow
Entering his fourth year in the NFL, defensive end Taco Charlton is now on his third different team and is looking at his time with the Kansas City Chiefs as an opportunity to grow.
During training camp, Charlton has received confidence from the Chiefs coaching staff and said during a video conference with reporters Tuesday that he has a chip on his shoulder heading into the season.
“It feels good, you know, I've been putting in a lot of work,” Charlton said. “There's a lot of things – they took a chance on me bringing me here, so of course, I want to prove everybody right and [former Michigan teammate] Frank [Clark], you know, stood on the table for me so I want to prove him right too, so you know, I've been doing my part, working hard and trying to make sure I'm doing my best to help this team going forward.”
The 6-foot-6, 270-pound defensive end from the University of Michigan was selected 28th overall by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2017 NFL Draft after tallying 91 tackles, 28 tackles for loss and 19 sacks for the Wolverines in his four-year career.
As a Cowboy, Charlton recorded his first career sack against the Chiefs but played as mostly a backup in his rookie season. The following year, he began to fall out of favor with the Dallas coaching staff and tensions with the team reportedly led to him being released two weeks into the 2019 season.
A day after he was cut, Charlton was claimed by the Miami Dolphins. Although he led the team in sacks at the end of the season, Charlton was inactive in four games, including three of the last four matchups. He time with the Dolphins concluded with 21 tackles, five sacks and two forced fumbles. He was waived in late April.
Now on his third team, Charlton said the coaching staff and players in Kansas City have helped his development as a player.
“They just help me grow,” Charlton said. “They help me grow, pushing me, helping me along, trying to bring me along, they're happy for me. They're just like I said, they just want me – they're happy I'm here and like I said, just pushing me to be better to help this team out so I'm enjoying it. Like I said every place I've been through is different, every defense is different that I’ve played in, so I'm enjoying playing in this defense for sure. It’s letting me attack, letting me be free and letting me play the game, so I'm enjoying it a lot.”
With no preseason games and the abbreviated offseason workouts and training camp, Charlton is confident in his abilities as a veteran in the game and believes he can get into the swing of things once the season starts.
“Yeah, I mean I'm different than a rookie, you know I've played — this is my fourth season, so I played NFL games,” Charlton said. “I know how it goes. I know the little tricks of the trade per se that really help me in this game, so I think I'll be fine. I mean it'll be different. It'll be different, of course you know not having any warm-up at all, but like I said, I mean everybody is going through the same thing, so you just got to adjust and play with it.”
