The Houston Texans released Darrell Taylor on Monday morning. Taylor, a pass rusher, was placed on the Injured Reserve in Week 9 after suffering an ankle injury. He was limited to four games and only 31 snaps this season.
Taylor was activated from the Injured Reserve last week, but his release a week later might be a sign that the Texans had no plans to play him. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
Generating a pass rush has been a struggle for much of the season for the 49ers. In the Wild Card round, only Keion White had multiple pressures. It would make a ton of sense for the Niners to claim Taylor, given his experience. He was drafted in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft by none other than the Seattle Seahawks. He had at least 24 pressures from 2021 through 2024.
Against the Eagles, more players had zero pressures than one for the 49ers. Of course, this is contingent on how much, if at all, Taylor could bring to the table. But the 49ers’ reliance on Kalia Davis, Alfred Collins, and Jordan Elliott on passing downs is why Jalen Hurts was only pressured on 16.5 percent of his dropbacks. Taylor is a true edge rusher, which means White and Yetur Gross-Matos could remain inside on passing downs. It also would allow Bryce Huff to play fewer running snaps.
Another body, even if for only 10-15 snaps, would take some of the workload off the rookies who have almost assuredly hit a rookie wall this late into the season. One impact play or pressure would be worth it.
His contract shouldn’t scare the 49ers off, as Taylor has a $4.97 million cap number. The 49ers would likely only need to pick up a fraction of that at this stage of the season.
It wouldn’t be a hard sell for Taylor, who would face off against the team that drafted him and would play for a team that needs all of the pass rush help it could get.
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