RB Jonathan Taylor
Position Rank: 3
Overall Rank: 4
Jonathan Taylor is currently slotted behind Tate, Stanford’s Bryce Love, and Gaskins, respectively. It’s not much of a secret to figuring out why Tate is so high, but why is Taylor behind Love and Gaskins?
Taylor’s ranking is nothing to be disappointed in. He’s one of the best players in the country and Yahoo’s ranking reflects that. But in order for him to climb even higher in these rankings, he has to improve on a few key areas of his game. Turning the ball over loses you points, which he did at a rate higher than desired in 2017. He also only found the end zone 13 times, which Gaskins and Love both beat out. Gaskins has a great chance to separate himself because of his receiving ability over Taylor too. If Taylor can become a receiver out of the backfield, find the end zone more often, and hold onto the football, he could finish the year as the top running back. It’s a lot of ‘ifs’, but he’s shown he can get the yards to do it.
Taylor is going to be a high first-round pick in many drafts, and some will even take him first overall. I think Taylor’s best value is somewhere between 3-5 overall, as long as you aren’t playing with any other Wisconsin football fans. Let Tate and Love go before Taylor and scoop him up with a few extra draft slots of value.