Improving by leaps and bounds
Published 11:57 pm Tuesday, August 21, 2007
KIRKLAND – Darryl Tapp will celebrate his 23rd birthday on Sept. 13, but he’s hoping that his greatest present will come four days earlier.
On Sept. 9, when the Seattle Seahawks open the 2007 regular season, Tapp hopes to be in the starting lineup. And based on what has been going on at practice this week, that appears to be a likely scenario.
The second-year defensive end from Virginia Tech has worked primarily with the No. 1 defense this week — although that doesn’t necessarily mean Tapp has been promoted yet.
“We’re just looking at that,” defensive coordinator John Marshall said on Tuesday afternoon. “We’re just rolling some guys around and seeing how they work with other people and how they fit.”
Marshall did admit that Tapp is giving 2006 starter Bryce Fisher some serious competition this preseason.
“There are some jobs out there that are definitely open,” Marshall said. “There’s some real good competition out there.”
After taking all of the snaps with the No. 1 defense at Tuesday’s practices — he was the only non-injury addition to the starting lineup that was on the field for Saturday’s loss at Green Bay — Tapp shrugged off the significance of his practice reps.
“It means nothing,” he said. “It’s just a different look.”
Whatever his role, Tapp has come a long way since being part of a three-man rotation along with Fisher and Grant Wistrom last season. Tapp played in all 16 games in 2006 but did not make any starts and finished with just three sacks. He said recently that he often felt like the rookie he was, so he spent most of the summer developing new pass-rush moves and rounding out his game.
“He’s a lot better,” middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu said. “That says a lot, considering how far ahead of the other rookies he was coming in.
“He’s got gifts of speed and hands. He’s just so natural with it. He’s working on playing the run a little bit, but for smaller guys that’s harder.”
As an undersized defender himself, Tatupu has tried to help the 270-pound Tapp with tricks to help shed bigger blockers in the run game. And Tapp has already proven to be more consistent in that area as well.
“He’s good against the run,” Marshall said. “He has really improved. He was not as good as he needed to be when he got here, but he improved throughout the year last year, and he’s improved this year.
“He’s an asset against the run.”
As a pass rusher, Tapp has made the most noticeable jump. He has as many sacks in two preseason games — three — as he did during the entire 2006 regular season.
“It’s like night and day,” Tapp said of how much he has improved since his rookie year. “It’s a great testament to the coaches. They know what they’re doing, and all we have to do is listen to them and let it come to fruition. I’ve been working hard with (defensive line) coach (Dwaine) Board and coach Marshall and working on my craft.”
If Tapp does crack the starting lineup, he’ll become the latest in a group of recent second-round success stories for the Seahawks. Tapp (2006) could join Tatupu (2005), safety Michael Boulware (2004) and safety Ken Hamlin (2003) as second-round draft picks who entered the starting lineup within the first two years of their NFL careers.
Tatupu said that’s no coincidence.
“There are only 32 guys that get drafted in the first round,” Tatupu said. “That’s not to say that the next 32 guys — or the other two-hundred-and-whatever, for that matter, can’t play.
“… It’s just a matter of finding the right guys that fit into your system and what you’re trying to do. The Hawks have gone a good job with that, and they’ll continue to do it every year.”
Tapp still hasn’t officially been named a starter, but he appears to be on his way.
He wouldn’t mind if that happened before the Sept. 9 game.
“That would be great,” he said. “But we’ll see. I’ll just keep working hard every day, and things will work out.”
