Bear Digest

Bears See Darrell Taylor's Intensity in Edge Rotation as a Fit

New Bears defensive end carries along a reputation for intensity that got him into trouble at least once.

Gene Chamberlain

Darrell Taylor of the Seahawks brings high energy and intensity to the Bears edge rusher position in exchange for a sixth-round pick.
Darrell Taylor of the Seahawks brings high energy and intensity to the Bears edge rusher position in exchange for a sixth-round pick. / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
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Darrell Taylor wants everyone to know he’s excited to be in Chicago as the newest edge rusher.

He’s not so excited he’ll do something he did in Seattle, and that was run off the bench onto the field during a teammate’s interception return in celebration but got away without officials detecting it.

“In the moment,” he said Saturday after his first Bears practice. “I definitely will not be doing that here. I mean it was just the excitement I have for my teammate, you know, because I’m passionate about the game of football.  

“Obviously in the moment I wasn’t thinking because he went down. I’m like ‘oh my God he got his first pick for the season.’ I’m excited and you know, I try to just go out there and celebrate it with him and realize. But uh, I won’t be doing that here though.”

The Bears are excited to have him either way, at the moment. They need pass rush help off the edge and gave up a sixth-round pick for a player with 21 ½  sacks in only three seasons. He had 9 1/2 sacks in 2022.

Taylor has heard plenty about coach Matt Eberflus’ scheme and style.

“I think it definitely matches my personality because I’m an intense player, you know?” he said. “Effort is everything no matter who the player is or who the team is. Effort is everything and  I think that’s going to be me—effort sacks, effort plays, chasing down everything. And I’m excited to be able to do that in blue and orange.”

The Bears have someone else within the pass rush rotation to throw in opposite the side Montez Sweat is playing.

“He’ done a lot of good things in this league,” Taylor said of Sweat. “He’s made his mark and continues to make his mark.

“So I’m excited to get to rush opposite him. Race to the quarterback. That’s what it’s all about and I’m just excited to be able to do that here.”

Taylor had been a second-round pick by Seattle out of Tennessee but the Seahawks were willing to give him up despite some good rush numbers. He has never been regarded as a strong run defender.

Coach Matt Eberflus thinks Taylor might find his defensive scheme to be a better fit for his skill set since he won’t be playing outside linebacker and is always going upfield off the edge in a 4-3.

 “There’s a lot of guys that have done that conversion, from an odd-front (3-4) being only a 9-technique and be able to play defensive end,” Eberflus said. “I’ve had a bunch of those over the course of my career. And it’s always worked out. Those guys always make good defensive ends in our system.”

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It should be an even easier conversion from the Seattle odd-man front because even in that scheme he was playing the wide-9  (end) and the 5-technique.

“Maybe it’s because we’re not like I said before, we’re not asking him to play inside mostly or kick him inside and play inside the tight end, we’re mostly playing from a wide position and those guys will flourish in that system.”

In Taylor, it’s probably more the effort and get-off than it is the experience within a scheme.

“Man, they're getting a very explosive player,” Taylor said. “A player that's gonna be relentless. A player that's very passionate about the game of football.

“You're gonna see that every day in practice. You're gonna see that obviously on the field. I'm just excited to be here and excited to be part of the organization.”

It should be a bit familiar setting for Taylor even coming from the NFC West and Seahawks. A handful of offensive coaches are on the staff from last year’s Seahawks. It’s also going to be easier for Taylor because the defense is more established than when they made trades or signings earlier in the rebuild.

“I think it does make it easier because he has guys he can talk to about the scheme, the players and the coaches have been here one ore year and the addition of Eric Washington in terms of having his d-line expertise in there, will certainly help, along with (D-line coach) Travis (Smith] and Bing (assistant D-line coach Bryan Bing),” Eberflus said. “So it’ll be good.”

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.