Badger of Honor
Fansided

Jonathan Taylor proving he is one of the best backs in the NFL

By Christian Borman

Nov 21, 2021; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (28) stiff-arms Buffalo Bills safety Micah Hyde (23) on a run during the second half at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 21, 2021; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (28) stiff-arms Buffalo Bills safety Micah Hyde (23) on a run during the second half at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports /
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When Jonathan Taylor entered the 2020 NFL Draft, I was positive he would be a first-round pick. He was one of the best running backs to ever come out of the Wisconsin football program, which is saying something. But there were plenty of draft pundits out there that didn’t think he would make it in the NFL.

He is very quickly changing that narrative. In fact, all of the old bad takes from a couple of years ago is giving the Freezing Cole Takes Twitter account plenty of content to work with.

Taylor was the third running back selected in the draft and 41st overall. He’s making the two teams that picked a running back ahead of him look foolish. Those teams are the Chiefs, who took Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and the Lions, who took D’Andre Swift. Could you imagine Jonathan Taylor on the Cheifs? Granted, the Chiefs probably wouldn’t prioritize the run as much as the Colts do, but JT has shown that he is a deadly weapon in the passing game as well.

In his rookie year, carries were tough to come by for Taylor. He had to share the backfield with Marlon Mack and Nyheim Hines. Eventually, Taylor took the bulk of the carries and finished the season with 1,169 yards and 11 touchdowns. Those are very solid numbers for a rookie, and yet, the hype around Taylor was still lower than he deserved.

Now, in his second year in the league, the play of Jonathan Taylor has been impossible to ignore. Through 11 weeks, Jonathan Taylor leads the league in rushing with 1,122 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, essentially matching his stats from the entire 2020 season. He also has 32 receptions this season for 322 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

To top it off, Taylor had five total touchdowns against the best defense in the league on Sunday. He is blowing up right now and people around the league are taking notice.

All of those ‘draft experts’ that knocked him because he had too many carries in college or because he wasn’t fast enough (huh?) clearly didn’t watch him play all that much in college and went right along with the SEC bias. JT is a clear cut better player than any running back in the draft class right now and probably was all along.

Jonathan Taylor was special at Wisconsin and he is continuing that in the NFL. He has a very bright future and has a chance to become one of the NFL’s premier backs for years to come.