Top Running Backs in NFL Draft: Jonathan Taylor

Wisconsin’s explosive Jonathan Taylor checks in at No. 4 in our ranking of the top running backs in the NFL Draft.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Apr 1, 2020 7:10 PM EDT

Wisconsin’s explosive Jonathan Taylor checks in at No. 4 in our ranking of the top running backs in the NFL Draft.

Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor called Herschel Walker the “gold standard” among college running backs.

In reality, the new gold standard might be Taylor. Taylor’s 6,174 rushing yards at Wisconsin is the most ever for a running back in his first three seasons. That obliterated the previous record of 5,596 yards set by Walker while at Georgia in the early 1980s.

Taylor had one of the great careers in college football history with a three-year total of 6,174 rushing yards (6.7 average) and 50 touchdowns. As a junior in 2019, he rushed for 2,003 yards (6.3 average) and 21 touchdowns and added career highs of 26 catches, 252 yards and five scores to be a unanimous first-team All-American. His 26 total touchdowns led the nation. He twice won the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back. He’s the only player in FBS history with three seasons of 1,900 rushing yards.

Video: Jonathan Taylor talks speed

There are legitimate questions, though.

First, it’s wear and tear. A running back can only withstand so much punishment. For every Adrian Peterson, there are a dozen versions of Todd Gurley. Taylor led the Big Ten in carries all three seasons. Between rushes and receptions, he had 968 touches.

Second, he fumbled throughout his career, with six in 2019 – five in the last eight games – and 18 in three seasons. He had fumble rates of 1.7 percent in 2019 and 1.9 percent for his career. That career fumble rate is the highest in the draft class, according to Sports Info Solutions.

“Freshman year was not my best year with that,” Taylor said at the Scouting Combine. “Cleaned it up sophomore year a bit; you still want to eliminate those. Going into junior year, I had a couple mishaps. Some with the wildcat with me and Aron Cruickshank, had one with Nebraska where the ball was a bit behind, caught it one-hand, defender on the hip, tried to bring it in. You never want those kinds of mishaps to happen but as far as those fumbles when you’re in traffic, trying to fight for extra yards, that’s when you have to be technically sound.”

Third, can he play on third down? After catching 16-of-28 passes in his first two seasons, he caught 26-of-37 last year.

Taylor is more than just a star football player. When Taylor was a senior in high school, he received a special graduation present from his family: a telescope. “That's when I knew he was different,” his father said. He majored in philosophy and carried at 3.3 GPA. “Philosophy is the study of, how do we know what we know?” Taylor said. “There’s also the study of reality. Like, what’s real? And there’s also a study of ethics. You study different historians and philosophers. You look at what they studied and learned and try to apply it to today’s world; that’s applied philosophy. You have the philosophy of the mind.”

What we like

At 5-foot-10 1/4 and 226 pounds, he’s a big man who was incredibly durable. Yet, he won the 40-yard dash as the fastest running back at the Scouting Combine with his 4.39. His 10-yard time of 1.46 seconds was elite. With size and speed came a parade of big plays. According to Pro Football Focus, he ranked second in the nation with 30 runs of 15-plus yards, third with 87 missed tackles and third with 1,257 yards after contact. According to Sports Info Solutions, he averaged 3.7 yards after contact, which ranked second in the draft class. When he got in the open field, it was time to strike up the band. He flourished on zone runs.

What we don’t like

Despite the improved production in the passing game, he was rarely on the field on third down. According to Pro Football Focus, he dropped four passes. He wasn’t very good in pass protection, either, but there’s little reason to believe at least that part of the game won’t improve because he’s got the size, strength and desire.

“Coach (Paul) Chryst did a good job making that a focal point my junior year,” Taylor said of catching the ball. “Kudos for him for being consciously aware of that throughout the game. It really didn’t matter to me in the game whether he wanted to hand it off to me or throw it to me. I was willing to do whatever it took for us to win as many games as possible.”