Tennessee defensive lineman Darrell Taylor is working for progress
Darrell Taylor is self-aware enough to know he’s not a finished product.
The Tennessee redshirt sophomore defensive lineman realizes he must improve his pass rush moves and be better prepared for run-down situations to make a significant impact for the Vols in the 2017 season.
“I’m not ready yet, but I am getting there,” Taylor said on Tuesday after practice. “This is what this spring is here for and camp, so I am working on those things to get better for the season.”
The Vols have a need for defensive ends to emerge as playmakers with Derek Barnett having left early for the NFL draft and Corey Vereen and LaTroy Lewis graduating.
Taylor appeared in eight games last season with nine total tackles, one tackle for loss and three quarterback hurries.
“I am just learning and trying to fill those same shoes, but it won’t be the same because we got different players,” Taylor said. “But we learned from them — me and Jonathan Kongbo and the rest of the other defensive linemen — learned a lot of pass rush, run-down things. Many other things.”
An athletic four-star defensive end and wide receiver out of Hopewell High in Virginia, Taylor redshirted his true freshman season at UT. Although he received playing time last season, Taylor admits it was a struggle to remain patient with his development.
“Yeah, it is frustrating,” he said. “But you have to work hard every day and when your time comes, you’ve got to answer.”
The 6-foot-4 Taylor has increased his weight from 240 to 254 pounds in the offseason by putting time in the weight room, eating right and taking better care of his body.
UT coach Butch Jones has noticed the changes, and believes more are to come.
“He is still a work in progress and he’s doing a very, very good job,” Jones said. “The thing I like about him, he’s really trying to lead our football team and he is holding himself to a very high standard of expectations and he’s holding his teammates around him to that standard as well. I know his teammates respect him.”
Taylor benefited from the presence of Barnett, Vereen and Lewis, and is using the insight he gleaned to improve his performance.
“I just trying to be physically and mentally tough up front because it starts with the defensive line and the offensive line,” Taylor said. “So we have to do a better job being physical. We have to do a better job being mentally tough when it is a long drive or something like that.”
Spring practice has provided Taylor and UT’s other defensive linemen a chance to work with new defensive line coach Brady Hoke on the field for the first time.
“Coach Hoke has been really good. I think he has been good with everything we are doing,” Taylor said. “We are learning some new stuff from him, different terms and things like that. But I think he’s been a pretty good coach so far.”
Taylor realizes UT’s defense has plenty of opportunities available for playmakers to emerge, and he knows how to seize them.
“We got to work,” he said. “Nothing is going to be given to us. We have to go out there and take it every day.”
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