Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson announced Tuesday that the team had signed tackle Herb Taylor to replace first-round pick Derek Sherrod on the Packers active roster. As expected, Sherrod was placed on IR.
Sherrod, the No. 32 overall pick in the 2011 draft, broke his leg Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs and remained in Kansas City to have surgery. It was learned yesterday that Sherrod broke both the tibia and fibula in his right leg, which means he’ll miss the rest of this season and potentially some of the next. Recovery time for such an injury is obviously extensive.
Taylor was drafted in sixth round by the Chiefs in 2007 and appeared in 18 games, including one start, from 2007-08. Taylor made the Denver Broncos active roster at the end of ’09 before training camp stints with the New York Giants in ’10 and Broncos again in ’11. Taylor had a work out with the Packers in early December, according to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
In college, Taylor (6-4, 305) started 48 games at TCU and twice earned First-Team All-Mountain West honors.
He’ll wear No. 72.
It was interesting that Thompson choose Taylor, a player without a regular season home for two years, to be the guy that replaces Sherrod. Names such as Mark Tauscher and Chris Campbell, a member of the Packers practice squad, have been thrown around since Sunday’s game as potential short-term replacements.
At this point, however, Thompson has earned the benefit of the doubt when selecting players. In just the past 12 or so months, Thompson has found street free agents such as Erik Walden and Howard Green, both of whom have contributed. And Thompson has plenty of tape available on Taylor from the past two preseasons, so the fact that he hasn’t been on a team in two years isn’t as troubling.
Besides, there’s no guarantees that a player like Tauscher, a veteran who can’t stay healthy, or Campbell, a young player still learning the ropes, were any better selections.
——————Zach Kruse is a 23-year-old sports journalist with a passion for the Green Bay Packers. He currently lives in Wisconsin and is working on his journalism degree, while also covering prep sports for The Dunn Co. News.
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I read he was a teammate of Newhouse at TCU.I guess it helps if you know how another played or may play along side of another…
Well at least they won’t have to move Taylor to Tackle.
I mean Ryan Taylor
I hope we don’t have to use him, that would mean being in a more desperate situation then we are now,(hasn’t been active for 2 years?) Hopefully Lang and Newhouse can get us through the Bears game with a victory and Rodgers still standing.
Herb Taylor, ‘eh? How about we see a little bit of Ryan Taylor at Tight End? The guy is a beast, he has an attitude, he can block, and maybe, just maybe he can catch the ball!
This scares me. Hopefully Clifton will be back this week….is that even a possibility anymore? Lang will battle, but will need a lot of help against guys like Peppers. Without Jennings to break the Cover-2 of the Bears, we will need Finley to be out there getting down the seam. Hopefully our OT’s can give us some time. God…we really need Clifton to be ready to go. This is a MUST WIN for the Packers. I don’t want them having to win against Detroit in the last game. The Bears suck, we should be able to fight through this one and then start resting people week 17 and then get a bye. But this is a must win on December 25th.
The Clifton back injury concerns me. The Packers are not disclosing much regarding the injury. Backs can be tricky. It could be a disc problem. Maybe he has received epidural injections and trunk strengthening therapy,who knows.
It sounds like they want him practicing a little bit this week and then practice next week with hopes of some playing time in the lions game.
They will test him out to see how the back holds up. I hope its not a Harrel type back injury that may require surgery down the road.
I’m praying that Chad comes through for the playoff run.