Taco Charlton
Vidauntae "Taco" Charlton is an American football defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He played college football at Michigan and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He has also played for the Miami Dolphins.
Early years
Charlton was born at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center two months prematurely. His grandmother, an aficionado of Taco Bell food, gave him the nickname "Taco" before he was born. His birth name Vidauntae is a play on her name, Veddiann.He attended Pickerington High School Central in Pickerington, Ohio. He played as a defensive end, outside linebacker and tight end. As a sophomore, he collected 35 tackles and 8 pass breakups. As a senior, he was a two-way player, registering 116 tackles and 19 sacks, while receiving Division I All-Ohio honors. He committed to the University of Michigan to play college football as a four-star recruit. Charlton also played basketball in high school alongside future NBA players Caris LeVert, Jae'Sean Tate and Javon Bess.
College career
Charlton accepted a football scholarship from the University of Michigan. As a true freshman in 2013, he appeared in 10 games as a backup defensive end, playing mostly on special teams, while compiling 2 defensive tackles. As a sophomore in 2014, he appeared in 12 games with one start, making 19 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 3 quarterback hurries. As a junior in 2015, he was defensive end in a 3-4 defense, appearing in 13 games with three starts, while recording 30 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 3 quarterback hurries and one forced fumble.As a senior in 2016, he became a starter at right defensive end in a 4-3 defense. He suffered a high ankle sprain in the season opener and was forced to miss the next 2 games. He returned in the fourth game against Penn State University, posting 3 tackles and 1.5 sacks. He had 3 tackles and 2 sacks against Rutgers University. He made 9 tackles and 2.5 sacks against Ohio State University. He finished with 43 tackles, 2 pass breakups and led the team with 9.5 sacks. He was also named to the All-Big Ten defensive first-team, by both the coaches and media.
College statistics
Professional career
NFL Draft
Coming out of Michigan, Charlton was projected by the majority of NFL draft experts and analysts to be a first round pick. He received an invitation to the NFL combine and completed all required combine and positional drills. On March 24, 2017, he attended Michigan's Pro Day, along with Jake Butt, Jabrill Peppers, Jehu Chesson, Jeremy Clark, Amara Darboh, Ben Gedeon, Ryan Glasgow, Lano Hill, Jourdan Lewis, Chris Wormley, De'Veon Smith, Channing Stribling, and seven other prospects.He opted to run the 40, 20, and 10-yard dashes again and was able to slightly cut times in all three while also running positional drills. Among the team representatives and scouts from all 32 NFL teams that attended Michigan's highly publicized pro day were eight head coaches: Mike Tomlin, Marvin Lewis, Bill Belichick, Todd Bowles, Sean Payton, John Harbaugh, Mike Mularkey, and Jim Caldwell. He was ranked the sixth best edge rusher in the draft by Sports Illustrated, was ranked the sixth best defensive end by ESPN, and was ranked the seventh best edge rusher by Pro Football Focus.
Dallas Cowboys
2017
Charlton was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He was the seventh defensive end selected and the second of eleven players drafted from Michigan.On May 11, 2017, the Dallas Cowboys signed Charlton to a four-year, $10.02 million contract that includes $7.73 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $5.43 million. He competed with Benson Mayowa, Charles Tapper, and Damontre Moore throughout training camp for a backup defensive end position. The coaching staff named Charlton the backup left defensive end behind DeMarcus Lawrence, who went on to have a breakout season and tied for second in the league with 14.5 sacks.
Charlton made his regular season debut in the Dallas Cowboys' season-opener against the New York Giants and finished without any statistic in the 19–3 victory. The following game, he made his first career tackle during the Cowboys' 17–42 loss to the Denver Broncos. He started the season slow, remaining a backup behind DeMarcus Lawrence, who had 14.5 sacks, and Tyrone Crawford. He recorded his first career sack against the Kansas City Chiefs. In the twelfth game against the Washington Redskins, he had 2 tackles, one sack and one forced fumble. He played sparingly as a backup, appearing in 16 games, while posting 19 tackles, one pass defended, one forced fumble, 11 quarterback hurries and 3 sacks, with two of them coming in the last nine games.
2018
In 2018, he had to compete for playing time against Tyrone Crawford, Randy Gregory and Dorance Armstrong. He came up with the nickname "Hot Boyz" for the defensive line. It was also portrayed in the media that he started falling out of favor with the defensive coaching staff.He started the first 7 games at right defensive end opposite of DeMarcus Lawrence and was substituted in passing downs. He had a sack in the season opener against the New York Giants. He suffered a shoulder injury in the eighth game against the Tennessee Titans, that forced him to miss 5 of the next 6 contests. His involvement was limited in the Cowboys 2 playoff games.
Charlton registered 27 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, one sack, 4 quarterback hurries and one fumble recovery. He appeared in 11 games, missing 5 contests because of a shoulder injury that required offseason surgery, and he also had an ankle surgery.
2019
In 2019, he entered training camp with his roster spot in jeopardy, even though Randy Gregory was suspended indefinitely and there were injuries among the defensive ends. The media reported about a meeting he had with defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli in the offseason, about concerns with his development.In the preseason, his playing time increased by taking advantage of injuries to defensive ends Demarcus Lawrence, Tyrone Crawford and Robert Quinn. He had solid performances, with the best one coming in the third game against the Houston Texans, where he registered 3 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 quarterback hurries, one pass defensed, 2 forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. His big night was dampened by injury, leaving the contest in 2 separate occasions because of knee and ankle injuries.
Charlton was a healthy scratch for the first two games of the season, fueling speculation in the media about his future with the Cowboys. It also didn't help that Charlton showed his displeasure through social media. He tweeted the message “free me” on September 15.
On September 18, 2019 season, two weeks into the season, Charlton was released by the team to make room to activate suspended defensive end Quinn, after Dallas failed to find a trade partner. His tenure with the Cowboys was one of the shortest for a first-round draft choice in franchise history, that didn't involve a career-ending injury.
Miami Dolphins
On September 19, 2019, Charlton was claimed off waivers by the Miami Dolphins.Charlton made his debut with the Dolphins in week 3 against his former team, the Dallas Cowboys. In the game, Charlton recorded 2 tackles and one sack as the Dolphins lost 31-6.
In week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers, Charlton recorded 6 tackles and a sack on Philip Rivers in the 30-10 loss. Although he started 5 games and finished as the team's leader with 5 sacks. He was declared inactive in 4 contests, including 3 of the last 4 games. He finished with 21 tackles, 5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles.
On April 30, 2020, Charlton was waived.