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RB Jonathan Taylor, IND (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Faust
- Start date
ILUVBEER99
Footballguy
Come rookie draft time nobody will be taking Akers over Taylor.
KingPrawn
Footballguy
Remember when the take in here was "he looks slow"?
The take in here of "he can't catch" will ultimately prove to be just as wrong.
ILUVBEER99
Footballguy
it's kind of funny. Taylor made some catches this year where i didn't realize it was him. I thought it was a receiver on a sideline go route.
He didn't just catch the ball on dump offs. He's easily the top RB in the class.
Zyphros
Footballguy
Watch me.
But seriously this is just foolish to say. What if Akers goes to KC in the 2nd while Taylor gets taken by the Miami in the 2nd (but a little earlier)? Not bad spots for either but 1 is the prime landing spot.
Andy Dufresne
Footballguy
Nah. Moses could bring his water parting skills to the Chiefs and someone would pooh pooh it because there'd be "too many mouths to feed".
King of the Jungle
Footballguy
I guess I need to try to get over my fear of Wisconsin running backs.
32 Counter Pass
Footballguy
I agree that draft capital and landing spot will influence the final order but with what I know right now I have JT ranked #1. I say that with some hesitation because I recall at this time last year AJ Brown was being touted as the #1 WR in the 2019 draft class. Once he was attached to the Titans the hype died down.
barackdhouse
Footballguy
kittenmittens
Footballguy
It is a bit of double counting because we knew he was going to be fast. I did not expect that 3 Cone though.
The drops and fumbles are a bit overplayed though I think. It's pretty common for that to be a knock on a prospect at this stage and it seems pretty rare that it's a big problem in the NFL for those players.
Pipes
Footballguy
Where are you getting he drops a large percentages of passes thrown to him from? He had a few but thought he did pretty well considering Wisconsin never threw him the ball until this past season. He’s still raw and developing in this area imo.
Pipes
Footballguy
I consider him a work in progress in that caregory since he was never featured as a receiving back at Wisconsin. Melvin Gordon has the exact same knock and he turned out to be a pretty good receiving back in the NFL.
Yeah, I like how the guy quotes his "lack of speed," as one of his reasons he will bust.
Pipes
Footballguy
Andy Dufresne
Footballguy
I'm marking Dan down as a "No". 
King of the Jungle
Footballguy
I was kidding based on the combine results. Honestly I don’t know who I have where at this point. Don’t remember being as confused as I am about a draft class as I am this one. Thought at the beginning of the year we were looking at a historic amount of elite-potential players. Now I am not sure who I like. It will come down to where these guys get drafted and when for me.
Pipes
Footballguy
Many people didn’t think he’d put up a 4.39. Many have said he looks slow so this combine does prove something.
Pipes
Footballguy
And yeah the fumbling is a legit concern along with his inexperience in the passing game. I don’t think anyone is vaulting Taylor into the mid 1st round of the actual NFL. All this does is show us athletically he compares favorably with the other top RBs we’ll be deciding between in our fantasy drafts.
Pipes
Footballguy
Who’s ignoring it? All of the RBs have warts and fumbling is Taylor’s. Nothing’s changed. I guess I’m not seeing the “hype” that you are other than Taylor had a great combine but ultimately I don’t think it changes his draft stock all that much.
kittenmittens
Footballguy
He was a track guy, with his track times we should have all expected the 40 time.
I don't think you can truly judge a Wisconsin back's pass catching ability based on the Wisconsin offense.
For one, Taylor was already getting so much usage that having him in on 3rd downs would be causing people to complain about the tread left on his tires. They already are.
Secondly, Wisconsin just doesn't use their backs to catch passes as part of their offense. Maybe they are changing that recently, but we were not sure if James White and Melvin Gordon were great receivers either.
I don't think you can truly judge a Wisconsin back's pass catching ability based on the Wisconsin offense.
For one, Taylor was already getting so much usage that having him in on 3rd downs would be causing people to complain about the tread left on his tires. They already are.
Secondly, Wisconsin just doesn't use their backs to catch passes as part of their offense. Maybe they are changing that recently, but we were not sure if James White and Melvin Gordon were great receivers either.
32 Counter Pass
Footballguy
I recall hearing the same concern about Miles Sanders last year. Anyone still beating that drum?
Pipes
Footballguy
Melvin Gordon didn’t catch many balls as a Badger and is a decent receiving NFL back. The fumbling is a much larger concern imo.
Pipes
Footballguy
? Gordon best receiving season with the Badgers he caught 19 passes. Taylor caught 26 passes this year. My point is people were knocking Gordon big time o that and he turned out fine. And Taylor won’t be drafted anywhere near as high as Gordon was.
Pipes
Footballguy
Neither do percentages. Whatever Gordon was not a more accomplished receiver in college than Taylor both were works in progress at draft time.
Pipes
Footballguy
Not necessarily. Even if he’s a 2 down back it’s about the touches. What if he ends up with the Texans? He could easily get 2O touches a games in that offense and make a strong case for the first RB taken.
I don’t think people are elevating him because of the combine it’s just talk at this point. It’s Feb and not much going on right now so people are excited about combine numbers. I think you’re making a bigger deal about it than the pro Taylor camp is.
ILUVBEER99
Footballguy
Taylor had 25 touches a game. He occasionally needs a breather. He's more valuable as a runner so of course they are gonna use his touches there and let him rest a bit on 3rd and mid/long situations.
That doesn't mean he's bad as a receiver. He did fine as a receiver last season.
32 Counter Pass
Footballguy
Did Alfred Morris' college career look like this? The dude AVERAGED over 2,000 yds a season. 
Code:
Rushing Receiving Scrimmage
Year School Conf Class Pos G Att Yds Avg TD Rec Yds Avg TD Plays Yds Avg TD
*2017 Wisconsin Big Ten FR RB 14 299 1977 6.6 13 8 95 11.9 0 307 2072 6.7 13
*2018 Wisconsin Big Ten SO RB 13 307 2194 7.1 16 8 60 7.5 0 315 2254 7.2 16
*2019 Wisconsin Big Ten JR RB 14 320 2003 6.3 21 26 252 9.7 5 346 2255 6.5 26
Career Wisconsin 926 6174 6.7 50 42 407 9.7 5 968 6581 6.8 55Since this is a fantasy message board how he gets the touches does matter. Especially in PPR but even non-PPR it's a lot easier getting yards in the passing game per touch then on the ground. It's like something I posted in a thread a few days ago regarding Ekeler. Based solely on last years stats he'd need to average 27 carries a game to hit the same fantasy points he got on 6.75 targets/5.75 catches a game.
Whether or not he has skill set to catch the ball has been discussed to death. We'll see, I'm not saying he can't be and I like to use Fournette as example because I don't think anyone saw that coming from him. But one thing is 100% for certain, all touches are not equal in fantasy football.
FreeBaGeL
Footballguy
It just doesn't usually end up mattering. Every single prospect I can think of that had fumble issues as a huge knock on them ended up having little to no problems with fumbles in the NFL. It's just so easily coached out.
Worst fumble rate from each of the last four classes (touches per fumble):
Jonathan Taylor - 53.8
Miles Sanders - 34.6
Sony Michel - 54.6
Dalvin Cook - 58.9
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
You seem to be the one creating this straw man so that you can knock it down. I haven’t seen many people overhyping Taylor based on the combine, and like you said most people had him pegged as one of the faster RBs in this class.
He was my no. 2 RB pre-combine and still is. I’ve seen him catch enough passes to know he can do it and as far as his fumbling issues, while I would have some concerns that he gets benched early as a rookie if it’s continues - the NFL has a way of working with these kids and 99% of the time it does not become an issue. Who was the last very good RB to lose a job due to fumbles?
I think there are 5-6 RBs in this class that can get the job done, and well, at the next level. Landing spots will help separated rookie draft order.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
Faust
MVP
Simulcam: Wisconsin Badgers running back Jonathan Taylor goes neck and neck with New York Giants RB Saquon Barkley, Dallas Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott
Simulcam: Wisconsin Badgers running back Jonathan Taylor pulls away from Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones, Cleveland Browns WR Odell Beckham Jr. and Houston Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins
Simulcam: Wisconsin Badgers running back Jonathan Taylor pulls away from Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones, Cleveland Browns WR Odell Beckham Jr. and Houston Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins
JohnnyU
Footballguy
kittenmittens
Footballguy
Christine Michael? Seriously I think we are getting a little out of control here.
Totally similar production profile.... If you compare one year of Taylor to Michael's entire 4 year college career.
Totally similar production profile.... If you compare one year of Taylor to Michael's entire 4 year college career.
Andy Dufresne
Footballguy
kittenmittens
Footballguy
One of the PFF guys was saying that Taylors yards per route run is the highest in the class.
I'm still waiting on draft capital and landing spot to really break the tie here. Swift had a good combine too.
Dobbins was still injured? I had Swift and Taylor ahead so they will stay there until we see more.
I'm still waiting on draft capital and landing spot to really break the tie here. Swift had a good combine too.
Dobbins was still injured? I had Swift and Taylor ahead so they will stay there until we see more.
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Ilov80s
Footballguy
ffmail4me
Footballguy
So let's say for the sake of argument he's the #1RB after you compare combine and his body of work in college... but Akers, Swift, or Taylor end up in KC. Is Taylor STILL the #1 RB in your draft? While we can make mistakes focusing too much on present team makeup (like those that let AJ Brown fall last year in rookie drafts) its hard to ignore great systems sometimes isn't it?
Of course not and that's why these definitive statements people are throwing around like he's the 1.1 should be taken as having close to no merit. As well as those definitive statements that he's the clear cut top RB in this draft for real NFL teams but that's sort of another subject.
He could be all of those things, the 1.1 and top RB taken in the draft but people are getting way to caught up in the moment right now making these kind of opinion statements like they are fact. This draft just does not have the easy button Barkley or Elliot 1.1 right now as much as people want that to be the case. And in my opinion NFL teams don't have a consensus top RB on their boards either.
Jonathan Taylor views himself in the class of Todd Gurley, Ezekiel Elliott, Saquon Barkley entering NFL
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001104940/article/jonathan-taylor-compares-himself-to-zeke-others
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001104940/article/jonathan-taylor-compares-himself-to-zeke-others
