Wisconsin Football: Jonathan Taylor listed as 2nd best RB in NCAA
Is Wisconsin football running back Jonathan Taylor the second best at his position in the NCAA?
Sporting News released a list of who they think the top 25 running backs are in college football. Wisconsin Football running back Jonathan Taylor came in at second on the list, just behind Stanford’s Bryce Love, and right ahead of Washington’s Myles Gaskin.
Unlike SN’s quarterback list that failed to mention Wisconsin’s Alex Hornibrook, Taylor is paid proper respects here. After a dominating season where he broke Adrian Peterson’s record for rushing yards by a freshman, Taylor can only improve. Which is scary. Taylor will be in the NCAA for at least two more seasons until he’s eligible for the NFL draft. We may not even see Taylor’s best in 2018.
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Instead of talking about Taylor’s current spot on the list, we’ll go over what he can do to be better in 2018, and what he can do this year to finish the season as the top back in the country.
Areas needing improvement
Taylor’s fumbling issues are glaring. They would have been enough to cost most backs significant snaps. The other veterans in Wisconsin’s backfield didn’t meet expectations, so Paul Chryst had to roll with the freshman. It’s not like Taylor wasn’t picking up yardage at an historical rate anyway. Ball security is a significant part of what makes a running back elite. It’s cited in Taylor’s blurb on the list and is likely the biggest reason he wasn’t able to jump ahead of Love.
Taylor can also improve in the receiving game, both as a blocker and receiver. On obvious passing downs he was out of the game for these reasons. He was probably also catching a breather, but he couldn’t be trusted to pick up blitzes or make catches and turn up field as an outlet. This, combined with holding onto the football, are two easy-to-spot areas that Taylor can improve his game in 2018.
Perhaps the most frustrating part of Taylor’s season was his poor performance in the Big Ten Championship against Ohio State. Taylor only had 15 carries for 41 yards. His 2.7 yards per carry on the day was the only time all year he was held below 4 yards per carry. He was supposed to be one of the keys to beating Ohio State. The onus was instead put onto Hornibrook’s shoulders and he couldn’t will the team to victory. You never know what may have happened had Taylor been closer to his average of 141 yards per game.
It’s hard to be too upset at one game considering everything he had done to that point in the season.
What it will take to be #1
Lucky for Taylor, Love is a senior, as is Gaskin. His biggest competition on this list for next year will likely be J.K. Dobbins of Ohio State.
To finish this season as the best running back in the NCAA, though, Taylor won’t have to do much that he hasn’t done already. Obviously, he needs to clean up his fumbling problem. He doesn’t necessarily need to become a threat as a receiver out of the backfield if he continues to rush for big numbers.
The biggest thing Taylor can do is be more consistent. The entire offensive line is returning for Wisconsin, so Taylor doesn’t have to worry about that at all. He needs to worry about scoring more. After getting 11 touchdowns in Wisconsin’s first seven games, he only scored two in the final seven games.
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Taylor is in great shape and it’s refreshing to know he has respect across the whole nation.