One of Tennessee’s top pass rushers has decided to return for the 2019 season.

On Thursday, Vols linebacker Darrell Taylor announced on Twitter that he will be back for his redshirt senior season. He played all 12 games and made nine starts for Tennessee this past season.

Taylor led the Vols with eight sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss, while collecting 36 tackles, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries, all career highs. Most of Taylor’s sacks came against top SEC East rivals — he had three against Georgia on Sept. 29 and four against Kentucky on Nov. 10.

In his announcement, Taylor said he wants to accomplish more and be a leader for the Vols next season.

https://twitter.com/darrelltaylorst/status/1075854803211902982

Taylor has played 30 games for Tennessee over the past three seasons. He had his best year this past season, and there’s reason to believe that he will continue to improve in his second year under Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt.

The rest of Tennessee’s players should be happy that Taylor is returning, as the linebacker was named the team MVP for the 2018 season by his peers at the team’s end-of-season banquet.