Has Time Come for Seahawks to Shut Down Darrell Taylor?

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL pre-draft process played out far differently than a normal year. Teams were forced to meet with prospects virtually, the majority of pro days were cancelled, and physicals couldn't be done by team physicians.

As a result, all 32 teams went into April's draft blind to an extent when it came to evaluating the health of incoming prospects. But in the case of the Seahawks, just before the league restricted travel with the initial wave of the pandemic hitting, they were able to bring Tennessee defensive end Darrell Taylor in for a visit to the team facility.

Taylor, who had produced 16.0 sacks in his final two seasons with the Volunteers, played most of his senior year with a stress fracture. He underwent surgery shortly after the season concluded in January to have a titanium rod inserted into his leg and after Seattle traded up in the second round with the New York Jets to select him, general manager John Schneider indicated their pre-draft visit with the pass rusher played a big role in the decision and the team was comfortable with his health status.

"Our guys did a great job of working their tails off trying to keep getting up to try to acquire him, and it was pretty hot," Schneider said at the time. "We view him as one of the very, very top pass rushers in this [class]. He played through a stress fracture last year in his leg, in his fibula, and just sucked it up and ended up having surgery at the end of the year. Our doctors feel good about him, and we've seen him run around."

Unfortunately, now 12 games into the 2020 season, the Seahawks have yet to see Taylor run around on the practice field. Since opening training camp on the Non-Football Injury list, he's had numerous setbacks in his recovery from surgery and with four games left to play, he's still on the NFI list.

First, the Seahawks believed Taylor had a chance to make it back by the end of camp. After coming to the realization he wouldn't be ready for Week 1, the hope was that he would miss only six games before being designated for return around the midway point of the season. Two weeks ago, coach Pete Carroll indicated he was ahead of Rashaad Penny on the road to recovery and he would practice.

But as the Seahawks prepare for a Week 14 matchup with the Jets, Taylor still hasn't been cleared to practice, while Penny will return to the field on Wednesday coming off a torn ACL. When asked for the latest update on the rookie's situation, Carroll dropped another bombshell casting doubt on his ability to play at all this season.

"He's in a routine of treatment. He got an injection last week," Carroll stated on Monday. "We're gonna see how that goes, how that works. He's gone as far as he can and this was another stage of rehab that he could entertain. He decided to do it and so we'll see how that goes. It's a couple week process before we know more."

A couple more weeks? That would mean in an absolute best case scenario that Taylor can return to practice by Week 16. If he's lucky, he might be able to play a few snaps for the Seahawks in the season finale against the 49ers.

Considering the investment Seattle made in Taylor, however, what's the point of activating him this season at all? If he still doesn't feel comfortable running and cutting on his surgically repaired leg - which he obviously doesn't if he had to have an injection - the franchise shouldn't potentially jeopardize his career by bringing him back when he's clearly not ready.

To Carroll's credit, he seems to agree with such logic. While he's maintained his patented optimism throughout Taylor's recovery process, he admitted things "haven't quite hit like I wanted" and until the player feels 100 percent healthy, the Seahawks won't rush him back.

"Ultimately, he's got to feel good about it," Carroll commented. "He knows the work he's done and he's the one who knows what it feels like and they can take all the MRIs and pictures and stuff they want, but he's the one that has to decide. We want him to be right and feel right and that's why it's taken us to this point."

There's always a chance that Taylor's recent injection pays dividends and he finally turns the corner. If that's the case, the Seahawks will certainly be happy to add another explosive pass rusher to the mix, even if for only a couple of games.

But after acquiring Carlos Dunlap via trade shortly before the deadline, Seattle should feel comfortable enough with its current pass rushing situation not to force the issue. If Taylor is not healthy enough to practice, he's certainly not healthy enough to play in a game and it would be wise under such circumstances to hit the reset button with eyes on getting him right for the 2021 season.